The Portland Trail Blazers leaned further into their rebuilding timeline in 2023. They elected to keep their No. 3 overall pick rather than packaging it for a star to fit Damian Lillard's timeline. Not only that, they selected Scoot Henderson, a potential successor at the same point guard position. A little over a week following the draft, Lillard requests a trade on July 1.
Henderson hasn't lived up to those lofty draft expectations as Lillard's potential replacement, the Victor Wembanyama consolation prize, or the face of Portland's rebuild. Fortunately, the Blazers' rebuild somehow is still on track thanks to GM Joe Cronin's trades, including a Lillard deal that directly or indirectly led to building blocks Toumani Camara and Deni Avdija.
Henderson has even improved in 3-and-D areas of his game, becoming a complementary piece to that young core. Once you redefine expectations surrounding Scoot, you can still see his value to this Blazers roster even in a crowded backcourt. Still, that doesn't mean he was the top available option when Portland was on the clock.
The Hoop Collective redrafts the 2023 lottery
Brian Windhorst, Tim MacMahon, and Vince Goodwill provided the latest reminder of how that Henderson pick has aged in their 2023 redraft on The Hoop Collective. The NBA analysts redrafted the lottery, which still included Henderson but not quite as high as the Blazers' original No. 3 overall selection.
Here's how the revisited picks played out:
- No. 1: Spurs draft Victor Wembanyama
- No. 2: Hornets draft Amen Thompson
- No. 3: Trail Blazers draft Brandon Miller
- No. 4: Rockets draft Cason Wallace
- No. 5: Pistons draft Ausar Thompson
- No. 6: Magic draft Keyonte George
- No. 7: Pacers draft Dereck Lively II
- No. 8: Wizards draft Toumani Camara
- No. 9: Jazz draft Scoot Henderson
- No. 10: Mavericks draft Anthony Black
- No. 11: Magic draft Jaime Jaquez Jr.
- No. 12: Thunder draft Brandin Podziemski
- No. 13: Raptors draft Brice Sensabaugh
- No. 14: Pelicans draft Bilal Coulibaly
Blazers' Scoot Henderson pick still looks like a miss
Camara joins Henderson in the top ten, which is quite an impressive and rapid leap for the former No. 52 overall pick in this class.
Regarding the No. 3 overall pick for Portland, the immediate takeaway is the Charlotte Hornets were right to take Brandon Miller over Henderson. That may be consensus now, but Miller-Henderson was a legitimate debate, as the two prospects were viewed to be in a second tier behind only Wembanyama. Miller's 3-point heavy game would've been a great fit in Portland.
Another good fit would've been either of the Thompson twins for establishing Portland's defensive identity. In retrospect, Portland should've considered options like the Thompson twins beyond simply selecting whoever remained from Miller and Henderson.
At least Scoot has already improved enough to earn a spot in the top ten in this redraft, showing this isn't a true draft bust for Portland. While this redraft serves as a painful reminder of what could've been if Portland's rebuild hit on this pick, props to Cronin for not letting this Henderson draft blunder turn into a franchise-defining mistake. The rebuild is still on the right track, and Henderson remains a part of that for now.
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