At Trail Blazers Media Day on Monday, Joe Cronin didn’t shut the door on Yang Hansen. He just made the landscape around him pretty clear.
Portland’s general manager said Hansen is still part of the plan in the long run, but the immediate job is going to be an uphill climb. For now, Hansen is in the mix for the third center spot behind Donovan Clingan and Robert Williams III, with a handful of other frontcourt names also fighting for scraps of available minutes.
“Still remain very optimistic about his future," Cronin said." He’ll go into training camp competing for that third center slot.
We got Donovan and Rob, and then there's some minutes up for grab there. Hansen, Branden Carlson, Micah Potter, Jeremy Sochan- any kind of small lineup we do, all those guys will be competing for that.
So, expecting him to put up a good fight there.”
That’s the reality of Portland’s frontcourt now. Clingan emerged as the starting center in his second season, and there’s room for him to keep climbing in Year 3. Williams, meanwhile, gives the Blazers another high-end defensive presence when he’s on the floor, and Portland’s front office has already accounted for the injury risk that has followed him through his career.
The result is a front line that suddenly looks crowded in the best way for the team, and maybe the worst way for Hansen. The minutes behind Clingan are limited, and the Blazers also have Carlson, Potter and Sochan available when they go smaller. Cronin’s comments made it sound like those looks will be part of the equation, too.
Hansen did get chances last season, appearing in 43 games and averaging 7.0 minutes. But that workload came mostly because Portland was patching holes caused by injuries in the frontcourt. Interim coach Tiago Splitter made it clear he didn’t want to rush him, and first-year head coach Micah Nori may take a similar approach.
Nori arrives with expectations that are different from a rebuilding year. Portland just reached the postseason, and he’s walking into a roster that needs to produce now. That doesn’t leave much room for patience, especially with Hansen still developing and the Blazers carrying other big-man options who may be easier to trust right away.
Potter brings spacing. Sochan offers defense.
Carlson is the more NBA-ready big at 27. Hansen’s calling card is his basketball IQ and court vision, but those traits are harder to showcase when a player is near the end of the bench and not touching the ball much.
Portland can keep investing in its first-round pick, and that’s one path to keeping him on the 15-man roster. Still, the more likely picture right now points toward Hansen battling for that third-center job in camp, then maybe spending more time with the G League if the Blazers want to keep developing him without forcing the issue.
For now, the talent in Portland’s frontcourt is a strength. For Hansen, it’s also the obstacle.
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