Blazers’ bold first-round gamble crushed Raptors’ second-round dream scenario

I think, out of all the draft storylines coming out of last night (aside from Brooklyn's stockpile of guard picks or the Phoenix Suns hoarding centers galore), it has to go to the Portland Trail Blazers, who took a real swing for the fences by selecting Chinese prospect Hansen Yang at 16th overall.

Blazers shock the NBA Draft with unexpected reach for Hansen Yang

No disrespect to Yang whatsoever, but the 7-foot-2 center was widely projected to be a second-round selection, somewhere around the early to mid to late-30s. This is a position where the Toronto Raptors could have easily swooped in (as they currently hold the 39th pick) to take a chance on one of the most polarizing talents in the entire prospect pool.

Yang was certainly a bit of a mystery going into the draft. With pro comparisons to players like Luke Kornet, Alperen Sengun, and — as Kevin O'Connor mentioned — Nikola Vucevic. The 20-year-old Chinese standout offers a ton of imposing size combined with that classic center playstyle flair, however, he was noted as lacking significant quickness and dynamic scoring range.

It's easy to see Yang towering over his opposition and assume he'll be an instant dominant force at the next level. However, many were quick to point out that his competition in the CBA was relatively weak, and yet he still struggled offensively.

But if you want to understand a bit more about why Yang is perceived as such a wild, unpredictable prospect, then look no further than what NBA insider Jake Fischer mentioned in an X post last night:

There were reports of Yang working out with the Toronto Raptors in the lead-up to the 2025 NBA Draft, as Sports Illustrated Raptors reporter Aaron Rose would cover. And despite Yang's shortcomings as a negative offensive player and his somewhat shaky defense outside of the post, it certainly seemed like Toronto could be the environment where the Chinese prospect’s game might eventually flourish — especially considering the Raptors’ need for big man depth.

Additionally, with Yang, you have a player who isn't the most athletic prototype, but who can unselfishly pass out to the open man, score off cuts and rolls; doesn’t that kind of sound like Jakob Poeltl to you? It could have set up a great mentorship opportunity for Yang.

While Poeltl might not be the best role model for developing an outside scoring game, there are certainly many similarities between them — even though Poeltl was a much higher-touted prospect in his class.

Clearly, the Portland Trail Blazers were so infatuated with Yang as a prospect that they were willing to make a trade to secure him, even though they selected him much higher than initially expected. Meanwhile, I bet Toronto, along with the rest of the basketball community, was in shock that Yang didn't slip closer to the second round, where he was projected to go — a spot the Raptors could have capitalized on.

Perhaps now the Raptors' major center splash to make in the second round is Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner... hopefully still on the board at 39th overall.