Image Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Who is Yang Hansen? Biggest Surprise Pick Selected 16th Overall in the 2025 NBA Draft

Hansen became the third Chinese player to get selected in the first round of the NBA Draft.

Image Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The entire NBA fraternity was left surprised when the Portland Trail Blazers selected Chinese center Yang Hansen as the 16th overall pick in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft. With this, Hansen became the third Chinese player to get selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. Not only this, but he is also the first since 2007 after Yi Jianlian, who became the sixth overall pick.

Hanse, Jianlian, and Yao Ming, the overall number one selection in 2002, are the only three Chinese players with the distinction. Notably, Hansen wasn’t projected anywhere near the first round in most of the mock drafts. While he might be unknown to many NBA fans, Hansen could emerge as the next big thing in the league from this year’s draft class.

Moments like these 🥹❤️ pic.twitter.com/VgOtNs7nup
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) June 26, 2025

Who is Yang Hansen? The Chinese Prodigy Projected to be the Next Big Star in the NBA

The 7-footer who turned exactly 20 years old on June 26, has been playing in the Chinese Basketball Association. He has been a part of the Qingdao Eagles since 2023. Hansen was a two-time CBA All-Star who earned the Rookie of the Year honors during his first season. In his two-season long tenure with the CBA’s Eagles, Hansen averaged 15.8 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game.

In 2024, Hansen was named the CBA’s Defensive Player of the Year after he finished the season with an average of 15 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per contest. Not only this, but he has also had 2.2 blocks per game. In the 2024-25 season, his average improved to 16.6 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game.

❤️❤️❤️ https://t.co/28LOBg95fW
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) June 26, 2025

Overall, he will enter the NBA on the back of a solid record of 15.8 points per game, 10.7 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game in 96 contests that he has played for Qingdao. Apart from it, the 20-year-old is 7’1” tall and weighs 250 pounds, with a wingspan of 7’3”. Given his raw skill set and size, Hansen has been compared to the three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic.

While he possesses better skills as compared to the other centers in the world, it is to be seen if he will be able to adjust to the pace of the NBA.

2025 NBA Draft

Yang Hansen

Garima Ranawat

Garima is a sports writer with around two years of experience in Indian sports and a newfound interest in the NBA. Inspired by the leadership of cricketing legend MS Dhoni, she wishes to bring in newer perspectives to the NBA fanatics with her writing.