Trail Blazers' reporter: Billups is willing to let Yang Hanshen play soon, making the trade of Robert Williams logical.

On August 10th, Yang Hanshen has arrived in Portland to prepare for the Trail Blazers' mini camp. Reporter Reese Kunz pointed out that head coach Billups is keen to see Yang Hanshen play soon, and trading Robert Williams has become a logical move. Here is Kunz's report —

The management of the Trail Blazers has been criticized for choosing a player who was widely projected to be selected in the second round with the 16th pick. However, Yang Hanshen quickly silenced these doubts with an impressive performance in the summer league — he delivered comprehensive stats, averaging 10.8 points, 5 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.3 blocks per game.

Many believe that selecting Hanshen is a forward-looking developmental signing, which could benefit the rebuilding Trail Blazers in the future. But that was never their initial intention in selecting him.

“We are confident in letting him play right now. He is just that good. I don’t think this is a situation that requires long-term development. The issue is that the center position is just too crowded,” said Chauncey Billups.

Describing the Trail Blazers' center rotation as crowded is actually a conservative assessment. After selecting Hanshen, they already have five centers on the roster, and the team has consistently invested in this position in the first round of drafts. General Manager Cronin alleviated some of this congestion by buying out former starting center Ayton, creating development space for Klingen and Hanshen.

However, Billups made another significant comment after selecting Hanshen, stating that he does not plan to have both young centers on the court simultaneously. This establishes a clear hierarchy at the center position and makes Robert Williams III more expendable, as there simply isn’t enough playing time to go around for everyone at the five spot.

Williams' contract is set to expire next season, with a salary of $13.3 million. When healthy, he remains an extremely impactful player as a pick-and-roll threat and a top-tier rim protector, which is why the Trail Blazers value him highly. But in reality, they shouldn’t.

Unfortunately, Williams' career has been plagued by injuries. He has only played 26 games in two seasons with the Trail Blazers, and his performance has been highly inconsistent, making it insufficient for the team to consider re-signing him after this season.

The challenge with Williams is finding a trade partner willing to give up any valuable assets for such an injury-prone player. However, the Trail Blazers don’t need to rush to trade Williams. They can opt for a strategy similar to last season: enhancing his trade value by demonstrating his health to other teams before the February trade deadline.

This plan was actually effective last season, but the Trail Blazers fell into a trap of their own making — because Williams was healthy and impactful at the time, they decided to keep him.

Now, the Trail Blazers' roster situation has changed — the arrival of Hanshen, along with Williams' expiring contract, makes trading him more logical this time.