LAS VEGAS – When the Warriors play on Friday night, their Summer League game will have the world’s most populous country closely following along.
The Golden State vs. Portland matchup at Thomas & Mack Center will be the first look at Chinese big man Hansen Yang, the Trail Blazers’ rookie first-rounder with deft touch and passing vision.
The Warriors brought Yang in for a pre-draft workout, back when he was expected to be a second-round selection rather than a borderline lottery pick at 16th overall.
During the Warriors’ shootaround at the Las Vegas Basketball Center located 15 miles north of the famous Strip, point guard Taran Armstrong made it clear that the team knows what a challenge defending the 7-foot-1 center will be.
“With someone like that in that kind of scheme, if he gets the ball down low, it’s gonna be about five guys defending him,” Armstrong said. “We’ve watched a little bit of film on him, and so we’ve got a plan in place.”
Players to watch for
Yang will likely be defended by center Marques Bolden.
The 27-year-old veteran out of Duke missed the previous season with an Achilles injury sustained during last Summer League, and recently grabbed 10 rebounds in two games at the California Classic games.
A couple of former SEC guards could also see action in the team’s first game since wrapping up the California Classic on Tuesday.
Vanderbilt’s recent graduate Chris Manon wowed as an active defensive presence and athletic finisher in his first Summer League game, but was quiet over the final two games.
“I try to impact the game whatever way I can,” Mañon told the Bay Area News Group recently. “Most nights I think I’m capable of guarding the other team’s best player and being disruptive at all times. Whenever I can get deflections or grab a loose ball, or dive on the floor, get a loose ball, I try to do it.”
Alabama’s Jaden Shackelford has been a high-scoring shooter in the G-League since departing Tuscaloosa in 2022.
He averaged 17.5 points for the Valley Suns in 34 games, and made 4 of 11 3-pointers in two games during the California Classic.
College basketball fans will likely recognize Trail Blazers guard Caleb Love, who Portland signed after a stellar five-year career split between North Carolina and Arizona.
Love was an All-American after averaging 17.2 points and 3.4 assists per game for the Wildcats in his last collegiate season.
10-year Anniversary of Looney’s debut
This Summer League is the 10-year anniversary of the 2015 team, which starred a rookie Kevon Looney, who recently departed for New Orleans as a free agent.
Looney averaged 9.3 points and 7.2 rebounds in six games. Fellow multi-time champion James Michael McAdoo led the team with 16.4 points per game.