Pakistan, June 27 -- Birthday boy Yang Hansen is headed to the Portland Trail Blazers as the 16th overall selection in the NBA draft, just the third Chinese player ever chosen in the first round.
The 7ft 2in (2.18m) center, who made his Chinese Basketball Association debut in 2023 and was an All-Star in each of his first two seasons with the Qingdao Eagles, had been tipped as a second-round pick.
That was even after his stock had risen after a promising performance at the NBA draft combine, where some of his passes had earned comparisons to the Denver Nuggets' Serbian star Nikola Jokic - a three-time NBA Most Valuable Player.
He had individual workouts with 11 teams, including the Trail Blazers who, after swapping the 11th and 16th draft...