Scoot Henderson has not had the strongest start to his NBA career, and the Portland Trail Blazers are looking to improve this season. Their summer moves may look like they are squeezing out Henderson, but in fact the team has made its stance crystal clear: they want Henderson to win the job.
The Trail Blazers landed the No. 3 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft and used it on G League Ignite point guard Scoot Henderson. Given his pedigree as a draft prospect the move made all the sense in the world -- except for the fact that it contributed to Damian Lillard demanding a trade after the team drafted his replacement instead of flipping it for win-now help.
With Lillard traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, Henderson was given the chance to prove himself the last two seasons. His career started slowly with multiple injury concerns, and after two years the jury is still very much out. He led the league in turnover percentage as a rookie, has a shaky 3-point shot and isn't racking up the easy points and on-target assists that many assumed he was in store for when entering the league.
In the meantime, the Trail Blazers have been adding win-now pieces to the roster. They retained Jerami Grant, they traded last year for Deni Avdija, and this summer flipped Anfernee Simons for Jrue Holiday. They looked like a team ready to take a step forward in a difficult Western Conference. That would seem to suggest Henderson would not simply be given the keys and given another shot to learn to drive.
Then the team agreed to a deal with Damian Lillard, the best player in franchise history (it's close, Clyde, but Dame probably wins that battle) to return home. On the surface that heaped even more doubt onto the situation -- but Lillard won't be playing this next season as he rehabillitates from a torn Achilles.
If the Blazers' plan was to try and win this season, potentially even make it into the playoffs so Lillard could consider a spring return, their next move would have been to add a veteran point guard. A steady hand to guide the ship in a rotation with Jrue Holiday. Henderson would be in the mix, but it would be clear the team wasn't holding its breath that he was going to be a positive contributor.
That next move? Signing reclamation project Blake Wesley, a first-round bust just waived by the Washington Wizards. When the Wizards aren't ready to be patient to develop someone, you know their path to being something is slim.
The Blazers now have a full roster and only one healthy point guard: Scoot Henderson.
Portland believes in Scoot Henderson
The Trail Blazers clearly believe in Scoot Henderson and his potential to be the point guard of the future in Portland. Jrue Holiday was once a point guard but is something more like a wing at this point in his career; an extremely high character player with championship experience to mentor Henderson, perhaps, but not to take over point guard duties.
Similarly, while Deni Avdija has shown flashes of on-ball playmaking, he is not a full-time point guard. Rookie Yang Hansen is a tremendous playmaker but he is a center and will face a steep NBA learning curve.
The job is Henderson's to have this year, and he will presumably have all season to prove himself not only an NBA player, but a future star at point guard. The flashes are there, the potential is there, the pedigree is there -- he has to put it all together this year.
And he will be given the chance to do so. Henderson is set up on a team with strong defenders at every position who can surround him and support him. In short, he is set up for success. He has a lot to prove, but Portland clearly believes in him enough to give him that chance.
Now he needs to go out and seize it.