With Scoot Henderson's play as of late, the Portland Trail Blazers' young core is being solidified. They have a deep but not very top-heavy roster, and their lack of star power is apparent.
Portland desperately needs an All-Star-level talent to compete in the loaded Western Conference. If Henderson becomes a reliable knockdown shooter, as he's shown in January, he has a strong case for being the most likely Blazers player to become an All-Star, even over Shaedon Sharpe.
They may have finally found the much-needed solution to their All-Star problem in Henderson, yet they aren't doing everything possible to confirm it.
Henderson's stats remain largely unchanged this season, besides his scoring, which has dipped from 14.0 to 12.4 points per game. However, much of that can be attributed to his decreased role and opportunity, as Scoot's minutes and usage rate are down from last year.
Overall, he's shown much more promise in 2024-25. While Henderson may not be the elite-level athlete many thought he was when entering the draft, we also may have underestimated his shooting ability. He's making 35.5 percent of his threes, which is already at league average for the point guard position.
Scoot Henderson's rising play shows why Portland must prioritize his development
The jump he's taken in his second season should have the Blazers feeling more comfortable with the idea of trading Anfernee Simons at the deadline and giving the keys to the backcourt to Scoot.
Following Chauncey Billups' recent decisions to bench Henderson and Sharpe, it's apparent that he is taking a play-the-minutes-you-earn approach rather than emphasizing growing pains and making them the team's primary focus. While that's not an ideal way to go about a rebuild, that's not entirely on Billups.
It's understandable that a head coach is coaching to win, especially one that likely won't be around after the season to see the rebuild run its course anyway. It's Joe Cronin's responsibility to take that option away from Billups by trading key veterans to free up more minutes for their young core.
This season, Henderson has disappointingly only seen 30-plus minutes in 12 of the 39 games he's played in. As a No. 3 overall pick on a rebuilding team, that number should be much closer to 39 of 39 games.
When he's been given an increased opportunity of 30-plus minutes, Henderson is averaging 17.9 points, 7.3 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game. Those games have become more frequent as of late, but the Blazers still need to do a better job prioritizing their young guard in terms of minutes and actual role when he's on the court.
The silver lining is that, although the Blazers aren't doing a great job setting Henderson up for success, he's still showing signs of life. He's had a tremendous month of January, shooting a red-hot 42.4 percent from beyond the arc. That's an excellent sign for Portland moving forward, especially considering they have to decide how they want to finish piecing together their unfinished roster.
Henderson is just 20 years old, and the Blazers are likely a few seasons away from being considered legitimate playoff contenders. Still, there's a sense of urgency surrounding the Scoot situation.
Portland has to decide on Simons' long-term fit with the team as his contract expires after next season. Another factor to consider is how stacked the guard prospects are in the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft -- eight of the first ten players projected to be selected in our latest mock draft were guards.
Ideally, Portland would like to know what they have in Henderson sooner rather than later so they can have more information to make these key decisions going forward. The best way to do that while helping him reach his All-Star ceiling is by giving him more opportunities and keeping his role consistent through the expected ups and downs.