Nuggets fans know that there is only one Nikola Jokic; often imitated, never duplicated. But apparently, the Blazers didn’t get the memo as they used the 16th overall pick in Wednesday’s NBA Draft to select a raw, little-known prospect, well ahead of anyone’s projection, Yang Hansen, AKA Chinese Jokic.
Yang is a project, to say the least, and was projected to go late in the second round or to be undrafted altogether. He’s a giant, at over 7 feet tall, and has amazing touch, hands, and footwork. It’s easy to watch his highlights, playing against much lower competition, and see where the Jokic comparisons come from.
But make no mistake about it, there’s a lot more that goes into being the next Jokic. Maybe someday Yang will be a good player, maybe even a great player. But for a team to draft based on an archetype that’s essentially once in a lifetime seems extremely optimistic.
Blazers loading up on size and defense
We’ve seen one of the Nuggets’ division rivals try to build a giant team based on size and physicality to try and battle with Jokic in the Timberwolves. They established a twin tower lineup of Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns that was able to bother Denver and ultimately knock them out of the playoffs two years ago.
Now, we see another division rival in the Blazers going a similar route. Last year, Portland drafted a 7-foot monster in Donovan Clingan out of UConn, and now they’ve shocked the NBA world by reaching for another behemoth in Yang just outside of the lottery.
The Blazers also have Robert Williams and DeAndre Ayton already in-house, so this team now has a massive logjam at the center position, as none of those four are equipped to play power forward.
Chinese Jokic comparisons will stick
Whether fair or not, the Chinese Jokic nickname won’t soon go away. It was all over social media on draft night, and Jake Fischer, an NBA Insider who works with Marc Stein, even reported that a Nuggets source texted him, “Chinese Jokic” shortly after the stunning pick was made.
It was assumed that Yang would take time to develop overseas, but the Blazers have already said they plan to bring him to Portland and he’ll practice with the team and get plenty of reps, likely in the G-League next season.
It will certainly be fun to monitor, and the first time Yang is actually on the court with Jokic will surely create some viral moments, but Yang and any other prospect have a long, long way to go before warranting comparisons to Jokic.