Unlike most NBA players who develop their passion for basketball early, Portland Trail Blazers first-round draft pick Yang Hansen didn’t take to the sport until he was about 13. “Before that, he didn’t want to run so much,

Surprising picks and stunning trades are through lines each year at the NBA Draft and part of what makes the event such a fascinating spectacle. But the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday during the first round of the draft made a selection so unexpected and so astonishing -- drafting Chinese center Yang Hansen at No.

The Portland Trail Blazers gave fans one of the biggest surprises of the 2025 NBA Draft by selecting center Yang Hansen with the 16th overall pick via a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies. Hansen wasn't expected to go this high in the NBA Draft, as the 7-foot-2 center will join an upstart Trail Blazers team.