Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets have singlehandedly changed the perspective of what a center can do.
His IQ and feel for the game, on top of his pinpoint accurate passes, have made the center position valuable again.
Now that he has influenced the league for the better half of a decade, his impression is being passed on to the next generation of players.
One player who seems to play extremely similarly to Jokić is Yang Hansen, the 16th overall pick in the 2025 draft by the Portland Trail Blazers.
Hansen was maybe the biggest surprise pick of the draft, as scouts likely had him as an early second-round pick at best.
Luckily, Joe Cronin, General Manager of the Trail Blazers, and the rest of the front office saw what many didn’t, and now, in preseason, they look like geniuses.
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Hansen is 7-foot-1, 250 pounds, and last played in the Chinese Basketball Association, where he was a two-time All-Star.
Similar to Jokić, he has already proven himself to be an excellent passer and a player who can score in bunches.
In a preseason game against the Sacramento Kings, Hansen scored 16 points, reeled in four rebounds, and had one assist, all in 17 minutes of play.
Even in the summer league, he displayed a level of playmaking that only Jokić has shown at center, making the right reads off screens and putting the ball in a place only his teammate can get it.
Yansen has all the right tools to succeed in this league.
It is a given that it will take some time for him to adjust to the pace of play, but Trail Blazers fans should be excited to see what he can do in the years to come.
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