Surprising picks and stunning trades are through lines each year at the NBA Draft and part of what makes the event such a fascinating spectacle. But the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday during the first round of the draft made a selection so unexpected and so astonishing -- drafting Chinese center Yang Hansen at No.

Chinese basketball star Yang Hansen turned 20 on Thursday, but the best birthday gift he could ask for arrived a day earlier: putting on the NBA draft cap after being picked in the first round.

Portland became “intrigued” by Hansen’s game in 2023, specifically while he played for China during the FIBA U19 World Cup, according to ESPN, which reported the Blazers plan to begin Hansen’s development “immediately” by bringing him to the United States.