Portland Trail Blazers point guard Scoot Henderson suffered a left hamstring tear during an offseason workout. Blazers general manager Joe Cronin recently addressed Henderson's unfortunate injury at media day, saying that the medical staff is telling him that Henderson won't require surgery.
Cronin said Henderson "hopefully won't miss too much time," but also cautioned that "hamstrings are tricky."
Henderson suffered his injury on September 26 and was given an estimated recovery timeline of four to eight weeks. He will likely miss the beginning of the regular season, which starts on October 22 for the Blazers when they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves. It's also important to note that the timeframe was until Henderson could return to basketball activities, meaning it could be longer than that until Blazers fans actually see him back out on the court.
Scoot Henderson looks to pick up where he left off
It's unfortunate timing for Henderson, who was entering a pivotal third season and set to take on an increased role in Portland's backcourt. The silver lining is that Henderson avoided surgery, which could have set his recovery timeline even further back.
Despite avoiding surgery, Portland still plans to take a patient approach with his recovery. "We're thinking big-picture with Scoot," Cronin added.
When Henderson does return, he'll look to pick up where he left off after a promising summer of development.
"Scoot was having an incredible summer. A lot of things we wanted to work on this summer, he worked on. So I feel really bad for Scoot. We'll be okay, but we'll miss him," Chauncey Billups said.
Although it's a relatively minor injury in the scheme of things, the timing of it all could have significant ripple effects. The immediate question is how this affects Portland's starting lineup. Jrue Holiday now needs to be considered a lock to start, which could leave the final spot in the starting unit between Shaedon Sharpe and Jerami Grant. But behind Holiday, the Blazers have very little backcourt depth and could struggle to generate easy opportunities on offense with Henderson out of the picture.
Portland is wise to take a patient and long-term approach with his recovery, but that doesn't mean that this injury won't impact Henderson even after he returns. He's struggled to find a defined role within Portland's offense the past two seasons, contributing to his inconsistent play. It will be much harder to find that consistency now that he'll have to integrate himself into an already established offensive hierarchy.
Still, it's promising that Henderson avoided surgery and had a great summer before the injury. Hopefully, he'll overcome this setback and still have that breakout season Blazers fans have eagerly awaited.