The Portland Trail Blazers sprang a surprise on fans in the 2025 NBA Draft by selecting Chinese center Yang Hansen with the 16th overall pick via a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Hansen becomes just the third Chinese player to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft and the first since 2007. Icon Yao Ming, who was the number one selection in 2002, and Yi Jianlian — who was sixth overall in 2007– are the only other two with that distinction.
Yang Hansen wasn’t expected to be picked high in the draft, but the Trail Blazers have been scouting him for the past couple of years in China. Here is more detail about the player.
Who is Yang Hansen, Chinese prodigy becomes the Portland Trail Blazers’ 2025 NBA Draft first round pick?
Yang Hansen, 20, has been a prodigy in the Chinese Basketball Association, playing for the Qingdao Eagles from 2023 to this year. He was a two-time CBA All-Star and earned the Rookie of the Year honour during his first season.
In his two seasons with the CBA’s Eagles, he averaged 15.8 points per game, 10.7 rebounds per game, and 3.5 assists per game. Many experts have compared him to three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić.
The 7ft 2in (2.18m) center had been tipped as a second-round pick.
That was even after his stock had risen after a promising performance at the NBA draft combine, where some of his passes had earned comparisons to Jokic.
Yang Hansen had individual workouts with 11 teams, including the Trail Blazers, who, after swapping the 11th and 16th draft selections with the Memphis Grizzlies, grabbed Yang on Wednesday.
“The Blazers had scouts scouting me in China the last couple of years. I also had a pre-workout with them last month. Everything went very well, and I got along with all the front-office people. But at the end of the day, this is sort of beyond my wildest imagination,” Yang said.
The pick made for a sensational birthday for Yang Hansen, who turned 20 on Thursday.
Not included among the likely first-round prospects and given a place in the near-stage waiting room, he clambered down from the stands dressed in a white suit to shake NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s hand.