US media: Klingen was once seen as a temporary replacement for Yang Hansheng but has now become a cornerstone for the Trail Blazers.

On January 8th Beijing time, Trail Blazers media Rip City Project wrote about Klingen, mentioning that he was once considered a “transitional replacement” for Yang Hansheng but has now become a key building block for the Blazers. The specifics are as follows—

When Klingen started his second NBA season, he was surrounded by rumors that his days as a starter for the Blazers were numbered. With Yang Hansheng entering the league amid high expectations, many compared him to Jokic and claimed it was only a matter of time before he replaced Klingen.

However, as the Blazers emerged from their slump and strung together consecutive wins, the team chose to firmly back Klingen, fulfilling his desire for consistent and substantial playing time.

It is easy to understand that what Klingen seeks is what every player craves—stability. Considering he is a lottery pick in only his second season and already facing a rookie tagged as his “replacement,” this becomes even more apparent.

This mindset partly stems from a statement he made in February 2025: at that time, he openly declared he was ready to take on significant minutes and aimed to become a cornerstone for the Blazers. Regarding his starting role and averaging over 30 minutes per game, Klingen said—

“I am absolutely ready,” Klingen stated. “I have put in a lot of work to adjust my physical condition and improve my fitness to reach this level, and I will keep pushing to get even better.”

Klingen averaged 26.8 minutes per game this season, and after embracing the challenge for about a year, he finally began regularly playing over 30 minutes per game.

In the 2025-26 season opener, Klingen played 30 minutes, but in the following 13 games, his playing time did not exceed 28 minutes. Once the Blazers gave him another chance to play over 30 minutes, he responded with an impressive stat line of 17 points, 21 rebounds (including 10 offensive boards), 4 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal.

Before receiving consistent 30+ minute playing time again, Klingen had played 7 games, and now this amount of court time has become the norm.

Over the past 11 games for the Blazers, Klingen has averaged 30.5 minutes, with 7 of those games surpassing 30 minutes. During this stretch, he has rewarded the team’s trust by averaging 14.3 points, 12.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game.

More importantly, in the 13 games he has played recently, the Blazers have gone 9-4, winning 5 of their last 6 games—during which Klingen only played fewer than 29 minutes once.

This trend continues: the longer Klingen stays on the court, the better the Blazers perform. So far in the 2025-26 season, when he plays at least 25 minutes, the team’s record is 14-8; when he plays less than 25 minutes, the record drops to 3-8.

Additionally, only three players on the current Blazers roster have played over 400 minutes with a positive net efficiency rating: Avdiya, Klingen, and Jrue Holiday.

Just when the public thought Yang Hansheng was about to take Klingen’s spot, it became clear that the Blazers already rely heavily on Klingen. While he still has areas to improve, early in his career he has proven he can be a strong interior pillar who positively impacts the team’s success.

The US media concludes by saying that eventually Klingen and Yang Hansheng will either learn to coexist or compete for the starting position, but for now, Klingen has finally earned a genuine opportunity to prove his worth.