The Portland Path Blazers added veteran guards this offseason in Damian Lillard and Jrue Vacation, and Lillard thinks Vacation, particularly, will thrive subsequent to rookie sensation Yang Hansen.
Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, and VJ Edgecombe had been the perfect rookies at NBA Summer time League, though Portland Path Blazers’ draft choose Yang Hansen stole the present.
Yang has already been in comparison with Nikola Jokic and showcased offensive vary and protection within the Summer time League. He averaged 9.9 factors, 5 rebounds, and a pair of.6 assists in seven video games, leaving followers enthusiastic about his impression within the NBA.
With Damian Lillard returning to Portland, Blazers followers are hoping the previous and way forward for the crew will intersect this season, and nobody is extra excited than Lillard.
As Jokic turns into an increasing number of influential, Yang is the primary middle to be drafted who grew up watching and idolizing him.
Whereas Yang probably received’t find yourself a three-time MVP, the flexibility and flash he brings is greater than sufficient to excite each his followers and his new teammates, even when they haven’t been aware of his sport for very lengthy.
“Certainly one of my assistants in Milwaukee, my first yr, really coached him in China,” stated Lillard to Casey Holdahl. “He spoke extremely of him as quickly as they picked him, however I hadn’t seen a lot, after which watching him throughout Summer time League, I used to be like, ‘This can be a actual participant.’”
Final season, the Blazers unveiled a brand new, defensive-first playstyle and mentality led by Chauncey Billups, and Yang ought to be capable of steadiness the scales, offering an offensive focus for Portland to mess around.
“With the way in which the league is now, plenty of these bigs are used as a hub to playmake and form of facilitate the offense at instances,” Lillard continued. “And he obtained like some swag to him too, you realize, like he obtained some stuff to him, and I believe that’s good for a rookie.”
Yang’s type ought to bode effectively for Portland’s level guards, particularly Jrue Vacation and Scoot Henderson.
Vacation has received two titles lately, topping the NBA mountain with the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics as the start line guard, however he isn’t a ball-dominant facilitator.
Henderson, in the meantime, has averaged 5.2 assists per sport in his first two NBA seasons, which isn’t horrible, however he’s definitely extra of a score-first participant.
In Summer time League, Yang posted an help proportion of 20.4%, between Vacation and Henderson’s regular-season mark. If he can keep on that trajectory, he would rank fourth within the NBA amongst certified facilities, behind solely Jokic, Domantas Sabonis, and Alperen Sengun.
In Boston, Vacation thrived as a kickout possibility for each Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Henderson, in the meantime, initiatives to be an elite slasher.
Neither of them are the perfect conventional ground common, though toss in Yang and Shaedon Sharpe, and the Blazers shouldn’t have any scarcity of playmaking whereas permitting Henderson and Vacation to play their ultimate roles.
