The deep meaning of the intercepting Populus and Hansen, the Trail Blazers have a good abacus, may send away the top scorer in 2018, welcome the layoffs

On June 26, in the first round of the 2025 NBA draft, Chinese player Yang Hansen was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 16th pick, becoming the third Chinese player to be selected in the first round after Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian, and the ninth Chinese player to enter the NBA.

The Trail Blazers selected Yang Hansen, which surprised many people. After all, the current Trail Blazers lineup has 4 center players, so why should they choose Yang Hansen? The answer may be in the team's current center lineup.

The current center players in the Trail Blazers include Donovan Klingen, who was selected with the No. 7 pick last year, Dup Rees, who signed with the early last year, Robert Williams III, who was traded in 2023, and 2018 draft No. 1 DeAndre Aiton.

According to normal circumstances, the Trail Blazers' lineup does not need to add center players, but they took Yang Hansen. After careful analysis, it turned out that the Trail Blazers' abacus was too good.

Donovan Klingen, who was selected with the No. 7 pick last year, has averaged 7.9 rebounds per game this past season and shot 53.9% from the field, but has shown outstanding abilities on the defensive end. However, his performance on the offensive end is relatively poor, his scoring ability is limited, and his shooting percentage and three-point shooting percentage are low.

After a season of training, it may usher in rapid growth next season. If the needs of the Trail Blazers cannot be met, it will enter the team option next year, which may be traded.

On February 17, 2024, the Trail Blazers signed a three-year NBA standard contract with two-way player center Dup Rees. In the past season, despite his limited playing time, he has performed particularly well on the offensive end, shooting as high as 38.1% from three-pointers and having more than 80% of serving percentage.

From all aspects, Dupu Rees should be reused next season, especially since he had cooperated with Yang Hansen in the CBA for a season and is expected to join forces again. The most important thing is his cost-effectiveness.

Robert Williams III, who came from the Celtics trade in 2023, was troubled by long-term injuries and made only 26 appearances in total, and his performance did not meet expectations. His contract will expire next time, with an annual salary of US$13.29 million. Players in this situation are very likely to be plastered on the trading platform.

Also in 2023, the Trail Blazers traded three-party transactions with the Bucks and the Suns, and won the 2018 draft No. 1 pick De Andre Aiton from the Suns. Although his performance since entering the NBA cannot be labeled as a "parallel" No. 1 pick, his paddling condition is very big.

Since he joined the Trail Blazers, his playing time has been unchanged, scoring, shooting percentage, rebounding and other data have been declining, and his contract will expire next season, with his annual salary of up to $35.5 million next season.

All information is undoubtedly an urgent task for the pioneers who are in the reconstruction period to clear out at least the contracts of Robert Williams III and DeAndre Ayton.

Choosing Yang Hansen is undoubtedly a smart business for the Trail Blazers. His four-year rookie contract totaled only about $20 million, and the Trail Blazers have the option for the next two years, which is extremely low.

Even if Yang Hansen is difficult to adapt to the NBA in the short term, the Trail Blazers can use his potential as a bargaining chip or train as a substitute center. More importantly, choosing Yang Hansen released a clear signal: the Trail Blazers hope to free up salary space and pave the way for future reconstruction.

From a business perspective, the Chinese market behind Yang Hansen is also attractive. Even if he cannot become the core of the team immediately, his joining can bring more international attention and business opportunities to the Trail Blazers.

Overall, choosing Yang Hansen with the No. 16 draw is not only to strengthen the lineup, but also to optimize the salary structure, and may even become a key link in subsequent transactions. No matter from any angle of view, the Trail Blazers will make sure to make a profit and never lose money.

For Chinese fans, Yang Hansen's selection is certainly worthy of pride, but what is more worthy of attention is the move of the Trail Blazers management - when the "intercepting the Hu" rookie becomes a tool to clean up the lineup, and when the first round pick becomes a bargaining chip, this game around salary and the future has just begun.