Hansen Yang

[EvanZ]

Difference between Jokic and these other "big passers" (throw in a guy like Bogut too) is the ball handling at that size. Yang will never have that. Gasol didn't have that either where you can get to any spot on the court. That's why Jokic is a 3-time MVP. The handling ability unlocks a higher volume of passing.

From what Ive seen - he has very good ball handling skills for his size

Then you haven’t seen much of anyone else.

[bucknut]

did you see the highlights portland put out today of yang ? ......

Read on Twitter

Full of highlights dribbling in, spinning, creative ballhandling from the 3 point line all the way to the hoop

I'm actually getting thoughts yang is a top 5 top 10 guy. I'm starting to think he has it in him defensively; he just gets away with lapses in the cba reaching in and not moving his feet.Theres also highlights of him sprinting on a closeout then turning around and catching up at the hoop

He's got a sound athletic lean body on him; and is going to put on alot of good weight and power.

China's pro league is really bad. There is no competition. That highlight reel reminds me of the Thon Maker package against complete scrubs.

What level of ball would you compare it to?
Smaller D1 schools like Mountain West/C-USA?
A level down like Big Sky/Horizon?
D II schools?

G league
Didn't Kenneth lofton jr dominate g league more then he is cba.
How many times do we see random scrubs cant touch score 5 points in nba go to g league and put up huge numbers? We don't think sullinger could average his cba 20ppg in the g league ?

Sullinger also averaging 5 more field goal attempts per game then yang to only score 5 more points.

[bucknut]

I said top 5 or 10 but I think I may settle with yang number 3 overall on my big board.

He has alfred senguin lower trunk. Yang has incredibly well balanced put together an in sync lower. The senguin ace move is the backdown feel you and spin with the subtle but exquisitely fast rotation of his leg trunk and feet to gain an advantage.

Yang has it.

[RipCity71252]

I said top 5 or 10 but I think I may settle with yang number 3 overall on my big board.

He has alfred senguin lower trunk. Yang has incredibly well balanced put together an in sync lower. The senguin ace move is the backdown feel you and spin with the subtle but exquisitely fast rotation of his leg trunk and feet to gain an advantage.

Yang has it.

Yeah that's the number one thing that stands out about his frame. Vecenie said the thought he had high hips and I don't know if I've ever disagreed more with anything he's said haha

[RipCity71252]

Didn't have Yang on my bingo card for Blazers draft picks and after digging into as much film as I can find, I think the number one concern I have for him is the turnovers. In the post he does not feel or handle digging defenders from the top or doubles from the baseline well at all. He also doesn't do a great job reading the secondary defender when he's playing in the pocket out of pick and roll or making the back door read that he likes so much when he's at the elbow or out top. He's also easily ripped when he tries to face up and drive.

And the other thing is probably how effective he's going to be against like sized players in the post. I don't have any worries that he'll be a threat in mismatches but if he doesn't draw help against his primary matchup I'm less excited about the passing value.

Think I'm a little higher on the defense than most I've seen. He was a real presence versus the USA team in the u19s in 2023. Think he changes ends well and reacts to multiple inputs pretty quickly. Paint maneuverability overall looked very solid for his age.

But I do agree that his upside on that end is fairly limited. Doesn't have crazy measurements and there are definitely some worries with him and pick and roll. Doesn't jump well out of a back pedal was the main thing that stood out.

[EvanZ]

I said top 5 or 10 but I think I may settle with yang number 3 overall on my big board.

He has alfred senguin lower trunk. Yang has incredibly well balanced put together an in sync lower. The senguin ace move is the backdown feel you and spin with the subtle but exquisitely fast rotation of his leg trunk and feet to gain an advantage.

Yang has it.

Yeah that's the number one thing that stands out about his frame. Vecenie said the thought he had high hips and I don't know if I've ever disagreed more with anything he's said haha

Everyone knows Asians are known for having short torsos and long legs.

[EvanZ]

If you are a Hansen skeptic watch him against Giddey, Landale, etc last summer. This kid has some real juice imo.

https://youtu.be/hLMHW6U628g?si=bEqGJ7r4tdJ1Vo4B

[bucknut]

If you are a Hansen skeptic watch him against Giddey, Landale, etc last summer. This kid has some real juice imo.

https://youtu.be/hLMHW6U628g?si=bEqGJ7r4tdJ1Vo4B

He dominated sarr. That I'm not particularly impressed with as sarr got his lunch owned by physical bigs overseas. ....but the portland gm that used to work at espn said yang went up against multiple recent top 5 picks and looked good. Not sure beside sarr who else or if he went against wemby

The other thing is - looking deeper into why yang hasn't dominated cba with gaudy points. His fga are just much lower then those guys. Why ? I dony know Someone said over there it's a Chinese culture thing , to differ to vets and foreign guys until you get older

China should of been force feeding this guy to promote him. His efficiency and the look test suggest he could of handled like 7 more shots a game

[bucknut]

If you are a Hansen skeptic watch him against Giddey, Landale, etc last summer. This kid has some real juice imo.

https://youtu.be/hLMHW6U628g?si=bEqGJ7r4tdJ1Vo4B

That pass at 38:50 is why he can be special special

There's only so many prospects in this class with potential all star upside and yang is one. The fact sorber went ahead of him is kind of crazy if I think about their ceilings

I now firmly have him in my top 3, and then I can see an argument for number one. Because special bigs are super rare, and ones that can playmake especially.

The one thing he is missing is that fadeaway jumper. Like to see him effectively utilize the jumper more in general

[EvanZ]

His ball handling might be better than I gave him credit for. In that game the Chinese guards are so bad the coach has Yang bringing the ball up at times. I also just love the way he man handles Landale who's a tough dude. But the sequence that really gets my juices flowing is when Hansen closes out and swats this 3pt shot into the stands. This is awesome:

https://youtu.be/hLMHW6U628g?si=8zpqBJISBL-XxCYV&t=2615

The anticipation of that pass and the ability to get out there. Pretty damn special at that size.

[SNPA]

People be joining the gang. We’re growing.

I hate that he isn’t in Sac.

[EvanZ]

If you are a Hansen skeptic watch him against Giddey, Landale, etc last summer. This kid has some real juice imo.

https://youtu.be/hLMHW6U628g?si=bEqGJ7r4tdJ1Vo4B

He dominated sarr. That I'm not particularly impressed with as sarr got his lunch owned by physical bigs overseas. ....but the portland gm that used to work at espn said yang went up against multiple recent top 5 picks and looked good. Not sure beside sarr who else or if he went against wemby

The other thing is - looking deeper into why yang hasn't dominated cba with gaudy points. His fga are just much lower then those guys. Why ? I dony know Someone said over there it's a Chinese culture thing , to differ to vets and foreign guys until you get older

China should of been force feeding this guy to promote him. His efficiency and the look test suggest he could of handled like 7 more shots a game

https://youtu.be/LLuMDj_SJe8?si=pBnINdwlNAHkkWYj

[ReggiesKnicks]

Reminds me of Sengun, who I had Top 6 in the 2021 draft.

Players that seemingly stick out and are outliers in advanced metrics at such a young age, regardless of league so long as it is a professional league, is a great litmus test.

Truthfully didn't get down to Yang as a pre-draft evaluation, but I wouldn't be shocked if he were a Top 5 player from this draft, like Sengun was.

What stood out for Sengun was great steal and block rates.

[bucknut]

Reminds me of Sengun, who I had Top 6 in the 2021 draft.

Players that seemingly stick out and are outliers in advanced metrics at such a young age, regardless of league so long as it is a professional league, is a great litmus test.

Truthfully didn't get down to Yang as a pre-draft evaluation, but I wouldn't be shocked if he were a Top 5 player from this draft, like Sengun was.

What stood out for Sengun was great steal and block rates.

Had no idea senguins fg percrntage was 65 percent overseas. Wow

Yangs feet are Top 3 feet of nba centers day one. Yang has very similar movements to senguin, but I think I may like his feet even more. He has some euro step change of pace stuff he does that is subtle but absolutely mesmerizing

[Saints14]

One thing that gives me some pause about Yang is that compared to Sengun in the Turkish league he’s a bit older and his efficiency is a bit worse. Sengun dominated in a better league in a way Yang didn’t quite get to…though Yang has better size for a C. Of course it was ridiculous that Sengun fell to 16 so even if Yang is worse as a pro he can be a solid pick at that spot.

How is the CBA compared to OTE as a league? There were similar level of competition concerns with the Thompson twins and they turned out well. I saw a lot of commentary about how OTE was a joke and that the only other potential future NBA player they went up against was like 15. At least the CBA has former pros

[Dat2U]

I had Yang in the early 20s in a very flat draft so when he was drafted is not a huge issue for me, my concern is what does this say about Donovan Clingan and his role going forward but this may be the wrong thread for that lol.

[Bucks4005]

I had Yang in the early 20s in a very flat draft so when he was drafted is not a huge issue for me, my concern is what does this say about Donovan Clingan and his role going forward but this may be the wrong thread for that lol.

I mean, Clingan is a 280 lb C who’s never handled big minutes. If anything, you’d expect 24 MPG next year, but idk if he’s ready to handle a 30 MPG role. Like, even in college, he would have his minutes low from getting gassed. If anything, when playjng a bigger C like that who isn’t necessarily lean and fit as some of these Cs, having two high end Cs is kinda needed. Especially when some teams play these smaller, 220-230 lb Cs, they’re just gonna try and run and gas a C like Clingan out.

[HadAnEffectHere]

I had Yang in the early 20s in a very flat draft so when he was drafted is not a huge issue for me, my concern is what does this say about Donovan Clingan and his role going forward but this may be the wrong thread for that lol.

I mean, Clingan is a 280 lb C who’s never handled big minutes. If anything, you’d expect 24 MPG next year, but idk if he’s ready to handle a 30 MPG role. Like, even in college, he would have his minutes low from getting gassed. If anything, when playjng a bigger C like that who isn’t necessarily lean and fit as some of these Cs, having two high end Cs is kinda needed. Especially when some teams play these smaller, 220-230 lb Cs, they’re just gonna try and run and gas a C like Clingan out.

Gotta draft two centers with premium picks because they both suck.

[Bucks4005]

I had Yang in the early 20s in a very flat draft so when he was drafted is not a huge issue for me, my concern is what does this say about Donovan Clingan and his role going forward but this may be the wrong thread for that lol.

I mean, Clingan is a 280 lb C who’s never handled big minutes. If anything, you’d expect 24 MPG next year, but idk if he’s ready to handle a 30 MPG role. Like, even in college, he would have his minutes low from getting gassed. If anything, when playjng a bigger C like that who isn’t necessarily lean and fit as some of these Cs, having two high end Cs is kinda needed. Especially when some teams play these smaller, 220-230 lb Cs, they’re just gonna try and run and gas a C like Clingan out.

Gotta draft two centers with premium picks because they both suck.

I mean, that’s a weird conclusion. Just not looking at the players themselves, there’s a method to why you’d do this.

A huge, 280 lb C can be a huge advantage. Like, you’re never getting outrebounded with a guy like this. A big C like this can control the paint. Look at Lopez, he transitioned to a DOOY candidate at times because he was so damn big and controlled the paint and protected the rim. But faster teams were able to run and gun him at times. So could be a double edged sword. For example, against the Pacers this last year, it hurt us since the Pacers were always looking to run. But in our final matchup against Phoenix, they had to work every possession in the half court to get shots which was essential in getting our Finals win.

With Clingan and Yang, yea, they may be closer to more of a half court team, but defensively they should control the paint and slow the pace down. And spliting the minutes should keep them fresher because the naturally, the fact is, 7 footers who are 250 lbs+ aren’t going to have the stamina usually to match these pick and roll guards all 32ish minutes these guards are on the court

[Chuck Everett]

I had Yang in the early 20s in a very flat draft so when he was drafted is not a huge issue for me, my concern is what does this say about Donovan Clingan and his role going forward but this may be the wrong thread for that lol.

I mean, Clingan is a 280 lb C who’s never handled big minutes. If anything, you’d expect 24 MPG next year, but idk if he’s ready to handle a 30 MPG role. Like, even in college, he would have his minutes low from getting gassed. If anything, when playjng a bigger C like that who isn’t necessarily lean and fit as some of these Cs, having two high end Cs is kinda needed. Especially when some teams play these smaller, 220-230 lb Cs, they’re just gonna try and run and gas a C like Clingan out.

Gotta draft two centers with premium picks because they both suck.

Well, that could be the case, but what if they prove capable of playing together in a jumbo lineup with Camara and Deni on the wing and Scoot at the point? Yang seems like he may have the skills to play out of the high post and if he can do it at the NBA level, why not try it every once in a while and see what the results are? The double big is making a comeback in the league.