Yang Hansen is Already a Star in China | What Will the Rookie Bring to the Portland Trail Blazers?

Yang Hansen is Already a Star in China | What Will the Rookie Bring to the Portland Trail Blazers?

In today’s show, Ben Goliver from the Washington Post joins the program and we talk about his profile of Yang Hansen. Welcome to Locked On Blazers. Let’s get into it. You are Locked On Trailblazers, your daily Portland Trailblazers podcast, part of the Locked On Network. Your team every day. What’s up? world. It’s your past first point guard and trailblazers reporter Mike Richmond. You’re listening to another episode of Locked on Blazers, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, available wherever you get podcasts and also on YouTube. Thanks for making this show your first listen. Coming at you three days a week in August into the first couple weeks of September, then we’ll be back rolling along five days a week. Today’s episode, a very special one. We are joined by a blazer blazer blogger legend. Uh, the type of writer that makes everyone else look like cold ash in a pot. It’s Ben Goliver from the Washington Post. Ben, how you doing? I’m doing very well. Very kind intro. Great reference to one of Yong Hansen’s best lines when I was chatting it with him, right? I mean, what a bar. He was trying to compare himself to uh Yao Ming. Yaoing’s number one in paradise and he’s just cold ash in a pot. that is really I mean I will say uh the language barrier makes it so he doesn’t have these bangers but when he has spoken in Mandarin and in in in the way he is comfortable he has compared the comfort of the rain and the forest of Oregon to a place that gives him serenity and he’s cold ash in a pot compared to yaing like the dude’s got he’s got some words if uh if um if we let him talk where the way he is comfortable oh he’s incredibly profound you know guy I think that probably comes with his upbringing as well, maybe a little bit. But it was funny because during the interview, I sat down with him for about a half an hour and that was one of the best lines. And of course, we’re using the translator because, you know, I don’t speak Mandarin, uh, as it turns out. And during the interview, the translator kind of broke the fourth wall and he looked over at me and he’s like, “Yong is cooking right now. I don’t even know how to like translate this.” So, apparently, it was a very elaborate uh Buddhist uh metaphor analogy that he was getting at there with that line. We translated it as best we could, but I thought it came through brilliantly. Yeah, it was really incredible. I I want to talk a little bit about about Haunted on the Court, uh, because I think it was fun in summer league, but I think what you got into, and this is a story that that Ben wrote in the Washington Post, it’ll be linked in the episode description here for you. It’s a it’s a feature on just sort of the person he is and the guy he is, like you said, like he’s cooking. This is like a great Buddhist quote. What? Tell me kind of what it was like to sit with him and like kind of tease out the human of like a 20-year-old Chinese kid making his uh making his transition to American basketball life. Well, let me put my cards on the table. I mean, I didn’t really know basically anything about him before he was walking down on draft night to the stage from the crowd, right? And you hear all these jokes about, oh, I’m in the middle of eating fried chicken when Adam Silver calls my name. And then all out of nowhere, Rich Paul just emerges to dap him up on his way to the stage and you’re like, “What is happening right now?” There’s there’s something going on that I wasn’t clued into, which is always kind of a fun challenge for a writer. And so for me, you know, within being down there in Vegas, within a couple days, especially your fellow Portland media members were like, “Yo, you have to write about this guy.” Like he he’s saying interesting stuff at the press conferences. He obviously has a huge personality. He’s obviously bonding with his teammates like immediately, right? like they’re getting really excited to sort of welcome him to NBA culture. There’s something here and and of course you’re always going to want to start these conversations with can he play right? And so you watch him a little bit, you see some of the highlight real plays. Obviously you see some mistakes too, but you’re sitting there thinking all right this is not just u you know some publicity stunt like this guy is going to be a real player. He’s going to be someone who matters to the Blazers especially after they move out DeAndre Eaton. Like he’s going to have an opportunity here and so let’s see what he’s all about. And um you know, as I sort of dug in a little bit more, to me, like the the main reason to write the story was just his immense popularity already. I didn’t know who he was two months ago, but 5.2 million people in China are watching his summer league game, right? Which is like five times more than watched Cooper Flags debut for the Dallas Mavericks. And so right there, you’re starting to think like, you know, only NBA Christmas games get 5 million viewers. And he’s doing it in the middle of July. And I’m sure there’s time zone issues and everything else. So to me it was what’s going on with this phenomenon and let’s try to introduce ourselves to this guy and and get a you know a first impression uh on you know kind of a historic player. I mean the first guy in almost 20 years to be a lottery pick from China. Yeah. So I I believe the Blazers first preseason game was scheduled so it it tipped off middle of the day in Ching Dao. Middle of the day back back home. So like they could get a Saturday afternoon Chinese audience sitting down and watching Hansen play basketball. So I would say there’s some intentionality behind that. Before you sat with him, could you just did you know that he sort of had this infectious personality? Like could you just could you get that vibe before you spent some time with him? No, I mean I still follow the Blazers pretty closely. So I was reading all the reports coming out after the draft and then obviously you know being around the team like in postgame interviews like a scrum uh just kind of seeing uh how he was interacting. You might have seen the clip that I asked him after Damen Lillard agreed to resign with the Blazers. I asked him if he had any like favorite moments or recollections of Damen Lillard as a Portland Trailblazer and he went to that stone face that Lillard gave after hitting the uh Oklahoma City Thunder uh you know shot over Paul George and then he tapped his wrist for dame time and I’m sitting here thinking like this guy not only does he have like amazing lines but he’s also got like physical humor too that’s like translating perfectly and you know honestly I felt a little bad for him because only about half the people in the scrum got the joke. I’m like laughing hysterically as he’s doing this. Of course, I’m trying to like control myself, you know, be a professional and everybody else who’s getting it is laughing like crazy and then half the people are there looking around like, “What’s going on?” But, um, you know, it was clear that he had a big aura to him before I chatted with him cuz it was towards the end of summer league when we actually sat down. I mean, he had already been uh followed around by this uh 10-centent documentary crew. They told me they were about to put together episode 10 of a 10- part series on his last two months. And so you start to think like you’re getting 10 episodes out of the pre-draft draft process in summer league. Like you’ve got to be used to the camera and you’ve got to be able to carry the story, right? I mean, there’s not a lot of players in basketball who could carry a 10- part documentary like that. And I think he’s uh he’s one of those personalities. So I went in with very high hopes uh for the conversation, and I would say he kind of blew them away. Yeah. And and talking through his his translator, Chris Lou, who’s like his guy. He’s going to be with him. Mom, I I think there is there is something special about that sort of that relationship. What was it like talking to those two? Because Chris is he’s in some ways introducing Hansen to the world. Like he is he is sort of this liaison to be like I know that this dude’s special in a way that maybe not other stars get that sort of relationship. Well, you know, it’s like a classic comedy duo because, you know, Yang obviously is 7 feet tall and Chris is is not 7 feet tall. And uh you know Yong is like kind of this bigger you know personality larger than life and you know Chris is very relatable with glasses and uh you know almost soft-spoken in a way that Yang isn’t. But they’ve kind of had a working relationship for about 5 years going back to when I think Chris was helping him through some uh injury rehab stuff I believe is what he told me. And so you start to think Yang is 20 years old. I mean this guy’s been working with him for 5 years. That’s a big chunk of his life. And um you know I asked him if they kind of felt like brothers and Yang made kind of a quip saying they were more like you know friends maybe that bicker a little bit you know like uh so that is sort of like brothers I would say. Uh but I found it to be um a very smooth conversation you know it’s not their first rodeo like they’ve been surrounded by cameras constantly. I Yong to me carries himself like a guy who’s a YouTube streamer. Like he just has that nonchalant confidence where he’s just always on camera. So he’s just like, you know, I was expecting him to like turn and be like, “Hey, chat.” You know, like during our interview because, you know, he’s just like that, you know, familiar with screens and and interactions and media. So, uh, to me, the language barrier really was not much of an issue. You know, there was I felt like it was a normal interview. A lot of eye contact. Um, you know, Chris, you know, definitely taking a moment to make sure he got the words exactly right. It it seems to me like he has a a real attention to detail and a desire to present Yang in the proper way. And so I appreciated his professionalism on that. And you know they I mean they they were in no rush. I mean they would have let me uh you know ask as many questions I wanted which I obviously appreciate made these days when it comes to access to NBA players. And um when it was time to go they were like all right let’s go get some hot pods dinner time. And I was like great you guys are having a you guys are having a great night in Las Vegas. You know I wish I could come with you. Yeah, that sounds um that that that would have been a heck of the second part of the story is is Ben Goliver goes to Hot Pot with uh with Young Hansen and gang in Vegas. Um I I want to talk about the market stuff because you mentioned some of it in your story about just how big Chinese basketball is going to be particularly if Hansen can hoop and I want to talk about whether he can hoop. We will do that in the second segment. Join us there, won’t you? First, I want to tell you that this show is brought to you by Monarch Money. You ever wish that managing your money was easier? Well, with Monarch Money, it can be easier. Whether you’re growing your savings or planning a big purchase, Monarch puts you in the driver’s seat. It’s like having your own personal CFO, giving you full visibility and control over your finances. 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That’s monarchmoney.com and the code is locked on NBA for half off your first year. [Music] All right, still chatting here with Ben Goliver of the Washington Post. So, you mentioned some figures about and you already mentioned in the show too, but in your story, but just how many people have eyeballs on Hansen playing basketball. What um when you talk to the NBA for doing this reporting? Are they anticipating this big boom, this big Chinese interest boom in in in in this young center for the Blazers? Yeah, I think they were really excited about the initial reaction from Summer League, right? Again, the only data points that they really have are Yao Ming, who was a Hall of Fame center, number one overall pick, and then E Jean Lin, uh, who was a lottery pick, but he didn’t really stick. He, you know, was five years, he was in and out. It was more like a cup of coffee. But they knew any Chinese player who’s drafted in the first round is going to have an immense following right off the gate, you know, right out of the bat. So, they they knew that there was going to be a lot of interest. But when you’re looking at 5.4 or sorry, 5.2 2 million for a summer league game. I mean, again, that’s comparable to the biggest regular season game. So, what happens when Young and the Blazers play the Lakers, right? Or what happens when they play the Golden State Warriors with Steph Curry? What happens when he has his matchup against Joic, you know, his favorite player? Like, you know, those numbers could be astronomical. And it’s just a reminder of how big the Chinese market is, and how long they’ve loved the NBA. I mean, this is basically their favorite professional sports league. Every summer the big time stars go over to sell sneakers in China because the market is just massive and China has been waiting and waiting and waiting to have a a star of their own to cheer for and they just really haven’t had one for, you know, since like the mid 2000s with uh E. So, um it’s been a long time coming. Of course, there’s been strained relationships. Everybody remembers Daryl Mory’s tweet about Hong Kong and there’s a year-long ban of the games on CCTV. All of that stuff has really been resolved and and so now the table is set for Yang if he becomes a star level player to be one of the biggest basketball stars in the world, you know, and and um we’ve seen that in the women’s game with Caitlyn Clark where it’s like she just multiplies every previous record by like three or four and that’s like the Caitlyn Clark standard. And with Yong, it’s like you got to wonder, you know, what’s possible for his regular season games. Could we hit 10 million for a regular season game in China? doesn’t seem impossible, right? It may be more. Um, I guess some of the stats I saw, there’s more people who identify as uh strong basketball fans in China than there are people in the United States. So, again, the scale there is just, you know, it’s on a totally different level. I saw a story that was in from written in 2021, so it’s a little bit dated, but the NBA at the time estimated that there are about 165 million what they would call diehard NBA fans in China, which is basically the equivalent of like every adult in the United States watching an NBA game. It’s like, so it’s like, okay, this is how many people plus, you know, all the casuals and you bring over casuals as you do these things. like you bring over people who are like, “Yeah, I would love to see the 71 20-year-old Chinese dude play against Steph, play against LeBron, like you said, like those types of things.” Um, well, and you see it with Show. Sorry to interrupt, but like, you know, like Japan, it’s like a national holiday on on like the World Series games, right? Like people just don’t go to work so that they can watch him, you know, play in the World Series. So, I mean, is that something in the future? Is that an unfair standard for Yong at this point? It probably is. I don’t think most talent evaluators see him as the next Yao or the next Shoi having like MVP caliber abilities, but he doesn’t have to have that to have a massive massive following. He doesn’t need to be Ichiro. He doesn’t need to be show. I mean, even if he’s just a backup center averaging 10 points and five rebounds a game or something like that. If he’s like having Nerk’s uh career, for example, right? Right. uh that is going he’s still going to have millions and millions of people watching his every single move because like I said people have been waiting for it over there. I want to ask you about the basketball in a second but do do you think he gets a sense of what this means? Like yeah I know you quote him in the story kind of but do do you think he gets a sense of kind of his position in the media world popularity world? No question. I mean I think that you just feel the pressure when you’re a Chinese athlete period. Right. I mean, there’s so many expectations. And you know, one of my favorite lines from him was his 8 hour rule. And he basically said, “Hey,” and he brought this up when I asked him, “Are you excited about representing China like in the Olympics?” Because they haven’t made it to the Olympics the last two cycles. And he said, “Yes, of course.” Like that would be an honor and a privilege. But he’s basically saying, “Hey, if anything is more than eight hours into the future, do not worry about it.” And then he’s like, “If it’s within eight hours, don’t worry about it too much.” Right? So his whole like life focus is don’t sweat the small stuff. Try to stay even keel. Don’t get, you know, don’t don’t get in your own head about it because as he pointed out to me, the more you’re thinking about those kinds of things, the more you’re putting pressure on yourself, the less likely you are to perform well. And so his whole focus is like it’s a very day-to-day mentality or or like even portions of a day when you talk about the eight hour rule where he said he wants to cherish every opportunity he gets on the court. he’s always going to bring the energy because, you know, he’s he’s that u, you know, single-minded in terms of how he approaches the world. And I think if he didn’t approach it that way, it would all feel overwhelming. All the attention and everything would get to be a burden. And I I think for him, he’s also a little bit of a natural performer. You know, he he likes to be on center stage. And so, he says, you know, anytime there’s expectations and pressure, it’s a great opportunity for me to show my sense of humor. That’s what he told me. And I think you could see that all the time. You know, it’s like almost like the bigger the crowd of media, the more likely he is to crack a joke or more the more likely he is to try to lighten the mood, right? And certainly he’s around his teammates that the same way, you know, in the locker room scenes that we’ve gotten video of. Uh, a lot of times it’s very light-hearted. So, that’s how he’s approaching this monumental task. Um, you know, it’s easier said than done, of course. You know, the better he plays, the more pressure there’s going to be, right? Yeah. He’s skipping the FIA Asia Cup, which is in August here. Do you think that’s an important um differentiation because part of sort of Yao, you know, Yaoing had to play for the Chinese national team in 2008. It kind of derailed his career a little bit because of because of the foot stuff. Do you think the the we’re seeing China maybe prioritize Hansen’s global standing maybe more so than they would have in the past? You know, I don’t have any real insight into that decision. What I would guess just from talking to him is that their top priority is acclimate to the NBA, right? because he had not been over here previously. He had, you know, this like coming into the draft was like a whole brand new whirlwind experience. He wants to feel comfortable and at home with the Portland Trailblazers. And I think that he has a strong desire to play and contribute, right? And so I think he doesn’t want to look back and say, “Hey, there was any missed opportunity to put myself in the best position with the Blazers.” And I think that they all realize like, you know, his career is not necessarily guaranteed, right? He’s a mid-first round pick who some people thought was a second round pick. uh you know, not a lottery pick, right? So, he’s not necessarily going to be a top priority for the organization. And so, you got to earn your stripes, earn your keep. And I think that to me, that’s how I read that decision. Yeah. And I think there’s probably some of it was just like be in America, talk to American coaches, learn the language, learn the not just the sort of English, but learn like the basketball parliament that’s going to be part of um playing basketball at high speed in the NBA. Um what did you make of his game in Vegas? Like when he played, I thought he was fun. Um, but what did you what did what did you see from him and just on the court stuff? Well, he’s a big guy, right? And so big guys make big highlights and big mistakes. That’s that’s sort of what I saw. You know, I think obviously the touch and feel is what everybody goes to first because he doesn’t just pass it to bodies, he passes to space. He’s seeing the game a half second ahead. He’s hitting cutters. He’s throwing some pretty risky passes, but they’re working, right? He’s clear he has a spatial understanding that not a lot of big guys do, right? uh at the same time like he’s euro stepping on some moves. There’s some like pretty advanced footwork going on and he doesn’t uh you know he’s not programmed he’s not robotic which I think is sometimes the stereotype right especially of foreign big men and so there’s a creativity level that got people really excited. I think to me the the concerns would be okay u turnovers because he’s not going to be the fastest player end to end when he turns the ball over a lot of those went for points the other direction pretty quick right and because he is kind of a a high-risisk high reward type player on offense there’s going to be turnovers so I think for him it’s going to be managing like what are the good turnovers versus what are the bad turnovers the same kind of things you talk about with any like highle ball handler or person you know high usage player um the live ball ones can be killer and So, I think that was something that came back to bite him. I saw a guy who really fought hard defensively and u rebounding wise, you know, he seems to really like boxing out to the point where it’s like every opportunity to box someone out, he wants to, you know, get a body, which is great. Uh that’s what you want to see. Uh but, you know, the work e ethic stuff on defense can’t always replace quickness and versatility. And I think he’s going to get tested there, right? Teams are going to try to pull him away from the basket. Teams are going to try to go at him. I didn’t think he was the most imposing rim protector either. I think you can score on him around the hoop at this stage. Um, you know, I think that’s something you can work on. You can definitely get better at. You learn the verticality. You get used to NBA athletes and there should be some improvement there. But I think, you know, really the whole thing boils down to me agilitywise on defense. If he’s able to kind of hang, he can have he can have a real career. And the other aspect, too, is I think he could probably add a three-point shot and really have that as a a weapon as well. And so if you’re talking about a guy who you can station not just at the elbow but beyond the arc, he can knock down an open three or he can pump fake and go now you’re beating defenses in a lot of different ways and it’s a very intriguing player I guess is how I would summarize it and I get why the Blazers would have used a pick on him. It didn’t seem like a lark or like oh some crazy gamble like there’s some real skills there. It’s not a finished product but it it could go in a direction that’s pretty interesting. Yeah, I would agree with that. I I think the big takeaway for me for summer is that he looked like he belongs. Like if you were just doing the blind scout, you’d be like, “Yeah, that guy’s one of their best players.” You know, like it wouldn’t be a question. You’d be like, “Yeah, 16’s really good um for this level, for this stage. Like he’s got some stuff.” Um even if you didn’t know about him and you wouldn’t say like he’s a second round pick, way out of like way out of his league type of thing or like how did he go 16? You would just if you had no idea who he was, you’d probably walk in the gym and be like, “Oh yeah, he’s he’s a pretty intriguing player. Um I like the passing. I’m with you on the agility stuff. I thought he got beat a couple times just he’s just he’s big and moving laterally against NBA athletes is going to be a challenge. Um he’s probably going to play right away. Like I think he walks into I think he walks into like not a huge role but based on like as you mentioned they waved DeAndre Aton uh the centers behind probably the most likely starter Donovan Klingan or Rob Williams who I don’t think you can pencil in for big minutes or many games and Dwap Rereath like Yang Hansen’s gonna play basketball for the Trailblazers night one and probably many nights after that. So, um, maybe regardless of his readiness, he’s the opportunity will be thrown at him and he’ll kind of get to learn on the fly a little bit. Uh, well, there’s a lot of pressure, right? I mean, like, is there pressure for the Blazers to win next year? I mean, I don’t know, maybe from some corners, but I look at this group and it’s like, well, Dame Liller’s out the whole season, right? And you’ve kind of gone that direction. I mean, the phrase I used to use back in the day a lot of people would say is like you’re either selling wins or you’re selling hope, right? I I think there’s also in the modern era, you can also sell clout. And this Blazers group to me in some senses, it feels like they’re kind of trying to sell clout. Like they’re they know they’re not going to be playoff contenders, right? Like really a really good team, but they’re also don’t really want to rebuild and do the whole sell hope. Let’s try to get a number one pick thing because they went that direction, got scooted, and it hasn’t completely worked out yet at least, right? And so they’re kind of in this other area where it’s like, let’s just be more interesting, right? Let’s bring Demi Lillard back, have this homecoming story. Let’s bring in Young Hansen and our fans are not going to get all over him if there’s five turnovers on opening night because they’re going to be excited about the back back door passes and the Euro steps. And so I kind of feel like that is a healthy environment for him, right? I mean, obviously if you’re trying to drop him into a playoff team, he’s not playing nearly as much or if at all his rookie season and he needs the time to develop. If you drop him into a rebuilding scenario like Brooklyn, I know they were kind of interested in him. I could see that going wrong because there’s like no structure. Like there it’s just all young guys kind of being thrown to the wall, right? Um I think Portland’s a pretty interesting fit for them. Yeah, I I there is some infrastructure for like competent basketball now. They might win uh between 33 and 38 games, but they’ll be a very competent 33 to 38 win team, I think. Um, I want to ask you about Damian Lillard and and sort of your take on the Blazers because I know um even if you’ve moved some 900 miles south of us, you’re still keeping a a close tabs on uh on what’s happening up here. We’ll do that to close the show. Join us there. First, I want to tell you that today’s show is brought to you by 5Hour Energy Transfusion. Time to fuel up and turn it up with 5Hour Energy Transfusion. It brings the bold grape, ginger, and lime flavor of your favorite golf drink minus the alcohol into a quick energizing shot. Whether you’re sinking birdies or just making memories with friends, this one’s a hole in one for your energy game. Let’s let’s let’s be honest. 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So whether you’re meeting up with friends or trying to turn 18 holes into 36, get the energizing boost you need to power through. Order transfusionflavored 5-hour energy shots today. Still a pass first point guard. I’m still Mike Richmond. Still chatting here with Ben Goliver of the Washington Post. Um, the Blazers have had a I would say a summer of of pretty surprising moves from trading for Drew Holiday, which kind of suggests that they’re maybe trying to be competitive to drafting a at the time 7-1 teenager who was somewhat unheard of, to now bringing back franchise icon Damen Lord, who’s going to miss the entire season. What do you make of sort of where they are? And let’s start with Dame. Like, what what do you make of that decision to reunite? Um, in my world, we had one summer without Damen Lillard. We had all of 2023, then we had a summer without Damian Lord, and now he’s freaking back in 2025. What do you make of that deal? You know, I’m happy for Damian Lillard. I have for the Blazers. Happy for Blazers fans or Lillard fans. You know, there was such a rush of excitement. I don’t really know where this goes, though. Um, and I think if I was, you know, being a little bit more cold-hearted and analytical and ruthless, I would say, hey, this is not the right time to be signing Dame Lillard to a multi-year contract because really, what’s it going to look like when he’s back on the court? And then if he is good, how long is he going to be able to stay good? Um, and so it to me, the Blazers still feel like they’re kind of treading uh, you know, in circles and haven’t really found their direction, their identity um, even though it’s been quite a while since they made that trade. So, I think that part is a little confusing to me. I guess I wrote during like the NBA draft, you can’t tell if the Blazers are coming or going right now, right? Yeah. I like the idea of getting rid of DeAndre Aton. I like the idea of moving on from Anthony Simons. I think you’re clearing out guys who were higher price, who weren’t really contributing to winning in major ways. And so, that’s probably going to be good. You know, doubling down on this identity kind of built around Aia and Kumar. That makes all the sense in the world. Uh, you know, taking a shot on Yang. Why not? That’s just kind of fun. Um, but you know, to me, I think there’s a ton of pressure on Scoot Henderson this year to make it to make the lead to to prove that you should have been the number three pick when you were uh to emerge as a guy who can potentially lead and carry a team. That’s asking a lot. I think I I’ve heard mixed uh expectations for him. I think there’s some people are like, “Oh, yeah, you know, give him time.” Other people are like, you know, the ship has already sailed. And so, you know, you’ll see how that plays out this year. But this feels like a makeorb breakak year for Scoot because Dame is just sort of looming over the top. I thought Lillard was very smart in proactively saying like I’m here to kind of mentor these guys and Bill’s call him like an assistant coach and all that stuff. You know, that’s great press conference fodder, but you know, when it comes down to it, there’s one basketball and one starting point guard, right? And so at some point there’s going to be tension there, you know, whether it’s uh you know, next summer or beyond. So, you know, we’ll see how it plays out. Uh they do not feel like a playoff team to me this year. They don’t really feel like a playin team uh either, but I think they’re going to be more watchable and honestly I think that was their top goal of the summer. I think that they’re looking at well we have a fan base that wasn’t thrilled at all after Dame left. We’ve got ticket sales kind of going down even though the team made some level of progress the second half of the season, you know, winning some more games. I mean, I heard a lot of apathetic Blazers fans, right? A lot of frustrated Blazers fans. And when you’re trying to sell the team and the fan base is the best asset the organization has, you want that fan base engaged. And I think there’s no question to me, they will be more engaged, the fans will next season than they were last season. Uh so some part of you thinks fuller building and the ability to sell, hey, when you purchase this bad boy, Damen Lillard will be back on the court in 2026. You think there’s some appeal there? No question. I mean, look, uh, if you’re going to spend billions for an NBA team and you’ve got a question of like, do we have to build a new arena, right? Adam Silver is raising that during summer league, uh, you’ve got to undertake that purchase knowing you’re going to be in one of the smaller markets ac across the country. Um, you’re understanding that there’s challenges, you know, longer travel for the team and and all the kinds of things that work against the Blazers over the years. Um, you really that’s got to be a labor of love, but it’s also got to be pencil out, right? And so everybody’s going to be looking at the books and I would imagine if you know this is one of the lower es of the Blazers franchise going all the way back to the 70s. I mean this is a team that for like two decades straight was always in the playoffs, right? And it’s been a while and it will probably continue to be a while. And so again, if you’re trying to present to potential buyers, put the organization in the best light, the number one thing you can do is make the Blazer Maniacs happy because the Blazer Maniacs are what drive the whole deal. Yeah, it’s um there’s they’re they’re in such a weird position because I kind of agree with you. I I could see them making the play in just because I think they’re probably something like the 11th best team in the West and if you’re kind of if you’re 11, you could get to 10. Yeah, it’s one injury, right? And we saw with Yeah. Like you could get, right? Yeah. You could get to 10. But also like I I think what we’re seeing maybe as as we go forward is like 10 is not really that much of a reward. It’s something, I guess, but it’s not it’s not a it’s it’s um it’s not that much of a reward. But I do think they’re like they’re they’re they’re trying to put out a team that takes steps forward because they just they they showed us this summer they don’t want to take steps back. They’re a 36- win team a year ago. Um some of that may be silly season victories in in March and April, but they from the moves they’ve made, my read on it is that they they fancy themselves winning more than 36 games as opposed to going the other way. Um, where that also mainly gets you, I don’t know, but it does it does like it does make you more interesting. It does drive interest a little more if you’re just um if you’re just a little more competitive. Um, is can you win from the middle in the NBA? Like I I think I think we’ve Yeah. Yeah. And No, I mean not the lower middle, right? I mean, if you can work yourself up into the the playoffs and then you can take a step forward, I think that’s possible. This is a parody error, right? And so it’s kind of like no one should view this as being an impossible time to win in the NBA. You have to make an amazing trade or you have to get a great draft pick, right? Look at the Thunder. Look at the Pacers. Without Shay, without Tyrese Hallebertton, they are not in the NBA finals. They’re not competing for a championship, right? But the idea that you could trade for a Tyresese Hallebertton in a deal that wasn’t some massive blockbuster and then two years later you’re in the NBA Finals. Or, you know, hey, things don’t work out with Paul George. we’re going to take a a risk on this skinny rookie from the LA Clippers and then boom, he’s an MVP five years later and you can you can build around him and make a championship team. Like those should be uh signs of optimism for the Blazers and Blazers fans, right? And so I think this the the collection of talent that you’ve described to sort of lower or sorry raise the baseline this year, you know, Drew Holiday, you know, kind of being uh probably the most prominent name there. Um I think there’s there’s some logic to it. I also think um the the flattened lottery odds. The Blazers sort of learned the hard way. It’s harder to tank than you think, right? Like you tank and sometimes you get Webby and then sometimes you get Scoot, right? Or you’re the Hornets. Sometimes you get Anthony Edwards, sometimes you get LaMelo Ball and his injury issues and his Cheeto feet tattoos. Are those real, by the way? I think those were real. They seem real to me. Um they are. Um so yeah, sometimes you get, you know, it’s it’s you can’t guarantee it and then you also can’t guarantee you’re going to get a top three pick either, right? And so if you land in that 678 range as the Blazers found out, you don’t always get a star there, right? And if you’re too good like you were last year to even fall into that range, now you’re looking at an even different caliber of player. And so I think the Blazers kind of found themselves stuck in between a rock and a hard place. They weren’t bad enough to get the truly generational talent or maximize their chances at it. And even if you try to maximize your chances, it doesn’t always work out. you know, Utah, Detroit are some examples of teams that have been really bad and not gotten the very best players, right? So, um, I understand their thinking. I understand their logic. And also, I think they just got tired of getting kicked, you know, their butts kicked, you know? It’s like, it’s painful. And I don’t think that’s who they wanted to be. And so, I think it’s going to be a more respectable product this year. Yeah. I I think the math is the math. If if Shaden Sharp or Scoot Anderson aren’t really good over the next two seasons, this era is derailed to some extent depending on sort of the other ancillary parts. That was going to be true regardless of the moves they made this summer. They’ve made some moves that probably helped those guys and it’s still true now. I guess the Dame Lo thing maybe comp complicates it a little bit on the back half, but yeah, I think like the math is the math. If those dudes pop, this era goes a different direction. If they don’t, you are I don’t know if you’re starting over at the beginning, but you’re you’re still on the hunt because the the market inefficiency for winning championships is having one of the I don’t know seven best players in the NBA roughly. And if you don’t have that, you’re probably searching for it or you’re hoping for a great deal of luck along the way. No question. You have to have the franchise player to to really, you know, compete seriously. And that’s what’s been missing ever since the the first Dame trade, right? um or I guess the only Dame trade. He resigned this summer, but um ever since you lost that piece, it’s the team has felt like it’s lacked an identity. I think this year they have a chance to be an intriguing defense first team that’s annoying to play and will get after you and will have occasional highlights and flashes. And if Scoot can make them something more, that’s the best case scenario. You know, I to me he’s the of all the players they’ve got, like I think it’s kind of the the ship has sailed on Sharp. I just don’t see him as that kind of talent. So, you know, Scoot, he’s got the the work ethic, the desire, the physical tools, the pedigree. Like, there’s a lot there. If he could put it together, he could become that player. If he can’t, they have nobody on the roster yet. Uh, who could be that guy? Well, there is a a 20-year-old Chinese national who’s recently profiled on the Washington Post who’s about to take this thing to the next level. Crazier things have happened, right? Just ask the Denver Nuggets, you know. Yeah. Exa, exactly. Chinese Yic. Indeed. Uh Ben, thank you so much uh for um for for stopping by. Um folks, subscribe to the Washington Post, support Ben’s work uh and and check him out as anything else you want to you want to point people to as as you get out of here? Uh just the greatest of all talk podcast. Uh greatestofallt talk.com. I do that twice a week. We have a great time with it. U so uh we are talking the downfall of North Carolina basketball this week actually. So I’m sure you’d be excited to uh to listen to that. I’m gonna skip that one. I’ve been I’ve been living that I’ve been living that pretty up close and personal over the last uh say seven years. So I’m I’m good on it. Carolina has not had an all-star drafted since Vince Carter. They have not had an all-star draft in the league since Vince Carter. And the team that’s about 8 miles away has had so many and I’m so tired of it. Um so go listen to Greatest of All Talk, but like skip that one. Skip. There’s like so like so many other good episodes. Uh dear listeners, come back for more shows later this week. Uh we’re doing three a week in August and September and then we’ll get rolling second week September with five a week wherever you get podcasts also on YouTube. Quick programming notes the publishing schedule best I can best I can keep it going Monday Wednesday and Friday. So you’re listening to Monday August 4th’s program with Ben on Wednesday Brandon Sprag will join the program. That’ll be Wednesday and Friday show and again on Monday with Brandon then we’ll we’ll keep it rolling next week. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, three days a week wherever you get podcast also on YouTube. Tell your friends about the program. I appreciate you listening. I’ll talk to you soon.

Ben Golliver of The Washington Post joins the show to talk about his profile of Trail Blazers rookie Yang Hansen

Golliver’s Profile of Yang Hansen in The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/07/20/yang-hansen-trail-blazers-nba/

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