The Portland Trail Blazers have started the 2025-26 NBA season on a strong note, as the scrappy unit has developed into one of the league's best young defensive cores.
Portland's 4-2 record and placement as the Western Conference's No. 4 seed to begin the year has been a product of their best talents developing in real time. Unfortunately, their No. 16 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and hulking 7-foot-1, 270-pound rookie center Yang Hansen has not contributed much to their hot start.
The versatile 20-year-old big man has struggled to find his place within the Trail Blazers' lineup through the first week of the season, and the franchise recently made a decision that they feel might provide him with more of a chance to progress.
"OFFICIAL: The Trail Blazers have assigned center Yang Hansen to the Rip City Remix for scheduled practices," the team shared via X/Twitter on Saturday.
In just 5.8 minutes of play throughout his first five appearances with the Trail Blazers, Hansen's horrid averages of 1.8 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.4 blocks on 22.2% shooting from the field could be attributed to his lack of opportunity and consistent burn.
With Portland appearing to be a dark-horse playoff team and possibly aiming to fully compete in the present, the decision to bring Hansen down to the G-League makes sense, especially after the franchise's former All-Defensive Second Team selection and ex-Boston Celtics center Robert Williams III made his long-awaited return from injury on Friday night against Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets.
Hansen will now receive a more fair shot to prove that he can contribute on a consistent basis with an elevated role, and the Trail Blazers' center rotation of former No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft Donovan Clingan and Williams III will give the team a chance to fight for a guaranteed postseason berth.
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