Dud No. 1: Scoot Henderson
Similarly to his rookie season, Scoot Henderson has had an up-and-down preseason in his second year. In this particular game, Scoot didn't play well, which is concerning considering the fact that it was Anfernee Simons' first game back, and there were already questions surrounding whether or not the two guards could effectively share the backcourt.
Billups elected to start Simons and Deni Avdija as the Blazers' guards, which could be the starting backcourt heading into the regular season, mainly due to Toumani Camara's stellar play throughout the preseason.
It remains to be seen if Scoot or Camara will get the last starting spot with Shaedon Sharpe out of the picture for multiple weeks as he recovers from a small posterior labral tear in his left shoulder. But Henderson did very little to help his case in the Blazers' final preseason game, recording just six points, three rebounds, and two assists.
Inefficiency was a significant issue for Scoot throughout his rocky rookie season, and it was more of the same in this game. He connected on 2-13 field goal shooting and missed all five attempts from beyond the arc. The three-point shooting should continue to take time to develop, and the Blazers should be patient with Henderson in that department.
In the meantime, he needs to play to his strengths as an athletic guard who can attack the basket and generate easy opportunities for his teammates, but he didn't achieve either in this contest.