2026-27 projection
| GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | 3PM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 7.0 | .400 | .750 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.6 |
Correction 2026-07-18: raised from 32 GP / 2.0 MPG to 40 / 7.0, which simply restores his rookie rate line (2.2/1.5/0.5 in 7.0 minutes over 43 games). Part of redistributing the season minutes the team page had left unassigned. He remains a stash rather than a 2026-27 contributor; the change is that a first-round pick behind a 52-game backup center is more likely to reproduce last year's usage than to be cut back to two minutes.
Role and evidence
Yang averaged 2.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 7.0 minutes across 43 rookie games. ESPN, accessed 2026-07-18. The official roster lists the 2025 No. 16 pick under contract. NBA team page, accessed 2026-07-18
His July Summer League included an 18-point, 10-rebound, five-assist game after returning from illness, reinforcing the passing upside but not changing the NBA depth chart. Blazer's Edge, 2026-07-14
Fantasy value
- 9-cat / points: 290+ in redraft.
- Dynasty: top 140-190; stash in leagues with 200+ players rostered.
- Best-case archetype: skilled high-post connector with threes, assists and blocks; the turnover rate is the counterweight.
Range
- Ceiling: wins the third-center role and reaches 10 minutes in 45 games.
- Floor: spends most of the year with Rip City Remix.
- Swing variables: defensive strength, fouls, turnovers and any center trade.
Related: Portland Trail Blazers · Donovan Clingan · Robert Williams III
Career record
Pre-NBA: Born June 26, 2005 in Zibo, Shandong. Two seasons with the Qingdao Eagles in the CBA, China's top division: 15.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.2 blocks on .554 from the field in 51 games in 2023-24, then 16.6 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.6 blocks on .586 in 45 games in 2024-25. Honors: CBA Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in 2024, two-time CBA All-Star and two-time All-CBA Domestic First Team (2024, 2025). He averaged 12.6 points and 10.4 rebounds at the 2023 FIBA U19 World Cup and debuted for the senior Chinese national team in February 2024. Draft: 2025, first round, 16th overall, Memphis; his rights were traded to Portland for the rights to Cedric Coward. He appeared in six G League games for the Rip City Remix in 2025-26, averaging 17.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.0 steals.
| Season | Age | Team | GP | MPG | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PM | FG% | FT% | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 20 | POR | 43 | 7.0 | 2.2 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | .310 | .824 | 0.7 |
| Career | 43 | 7.0 | 2.2 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | .310 | .824 | 0.7 |
Durability: 43 appearances at 7.0 minutes, a usage pattern set by the coaching staff rather than by injury. He missed a stretch of the 2026 Summer League with illness. No structural availability concern.
Trajectory: The gap between the CBA record and the rookie NBA line is the whole story. In China he was a 16-point, 10-rebound, three-assist center shooting .586 who won a defensive player award; in Portland he shot .310 from the field and .119 from three in short, low-leverage minutes and posted a badly negative on-court margin. The passing is real and the free-throw stroke (.824) suggests the touch is real, but nothing about NBA-speed defense or shot creation translated in year one. He is blocked by Clingan, Robert Williams III and Portland's veteran additions, so 2026-27 projects as more of the same plus G League reps. He becomes fantasy-relevant only if Portland trades a center and an injury opens the backup job — and even then he has to show the shooting is a sample problem rather than a level problem.
Career sources: ESPN player stats · Wikipedia · Blazer's Edge rookie season review
Open questions
- Is Yang mobile enough to defend NBA pick-and-roll actions?
- Can his Summer League three translate on real volume?