Blazers SHOCK Everyone, Draft Yang Hansen (杨瀚森) | Rachel Nichols & Chris Mannix

Blazers SHOCK Everyone, Draft Yang Hansen (杨瀚森) | Rachel Nichols & Chris Mannix

let’s talk about the strangest pick of the first round of this draft Uh Portland sitting there at what was it number 16 uh in the draft They come up on the board and Adam Silver gets at to the podium and says the Blazers have selected Yang Hansen And I got to tell you Rachel I I’ve tried to be somewhat plugged in to the draft process I had absolutely no idea
You hadn’t been crushing film on him have not been crushing film on Yang Hansen 20 years old Uh I saw was I think it was Jake Fischer that described him as the Chinese Nicole Joic I watched a little bit of film of him Like he’s coordinated for sure and he’s got some moves in the low post but when I texted other executives about Young um there were a lot that said that they liked him but they liked him as a second round pick
Oh there were a couple that said like “I can see him becoming a really good career backup in the NBA.” Um and the Blazers grab him in the first round Now the Blazers scouting department is led by Mike Schmidt who I used to work with over at Yahoo Really smart guy one of the most one of the brightest scouting minds that I’ve been around and excels at scouting internationally All over the globe this guy goes and watches talent He obviously sees something in Young but to draft him in the middle of the first round uh on a team that just last year drafted Donovan Klingan that still has DeAndre Aton and Robert Williams III on the roster I don’t know Oh I mean I feel like could that draft capital not been utilized on someone that made a little bit more sense
or trade down If this is who you’re going to draft you have you have no competition I promise you there was nobody else in any front office around the NBA being like “Oh man we missed out on Young
Gh I can’t believe Portland went and nailed and and you know snatched him up.”
Like there’s nobody who was you know competing with them for that And and I just you know again I’m like you I’m I’m just reading scouting reports on him because who has seen him play but the scouting reports are that yes he’s a great passer You know some flares of Joic but although Joic is possibly the best passing big men ever in the history of the game So the likelihood that you have found the next one is not likely Someone might be good in that mold but they’re not going to be Nicolic And then there’s a bunch of questions about his athleticism his explosiveness And it’s not the sort of knock on Nickelo which was oh he’s a little overweight he’s a little pudgy you know I don’t know how committed he is This is the way this guy’s body is constructed is not necessarily an NBA frame And the explosiveness we don’t see it being there So if those are the knocks that the scouts have seen who have seen him play that’s what they highlight Again you didn’t need to get him at that spot And if it is who you wanted if you’re Kevin Cosner and it’s him or no one at least trade down and get something out of the fact that you are taking this risk that nobody else wants to take
I I thought I mean I’m just watching that clip over and over again You see him struggling to button up that cream colored suit And look this was a great moment for Rich Paul
Great moment for Rich Paul Rich Paul set himself up to be the go-to agent for all Asian basketball players for if you are an unknown basketball player
Rich Paul look what I got him
Got this guy
Look what I got him
Who nobody had projected the first round draft in the middle of the first round that comes with guaranteed money Yep Like he’s going to get
money’s real
Threeear deal Endorsements
this guy is going to get that I assume Clutch will get a piece of is going to be huge If you spent any time around any Chinese basketball player or even player who is popular in China I’ve spent a long time working with Tracy McGrady Let me tell you how much endorsement money is out there on the most populous country in the world And that will all be there now because he is a legitimate NBA player And so no matter how good or not good he turns out to be he’s in the NBA he will get endorsement deals
Now what I don’t even know where the Blazers go from here though Like you draft Klingan who was a dominant college basketball player You get him in the top 10 in last year’s draft
I mean Robert Williams is definitely in play If he can prove that he’s healthy somebody’s going to want him DeAndre Aiden still got a big contract I don’t know what the market’s going to look like for him They now have a glut of you know highlevel big man high level and not even big man because they’re all centers Like they’re all they’re not versatile players They’re all guys that really only play the five They’re going to have to do something with that log jam in the middle And this is like for for Mike Schmidtz it’s a big swing man This is a big risk to take Like you may have just drafted the next Nicole Yokic like we’ve been talking but you also may have just drafted Chinese Bruno Kaboko right you know
you may see Yeah Yeah More more power to them if if it turns out
Yeah Uh that was that was the wildest

Chris Mannix and Rachel Nichols break down the most baffling draft selection in years as the Blazers pick the raw Chinese prospect Yang Hansen in the first round after many saw him as a day two pick at best
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