Portland Trail Blazers point guard Scoot Henderson was recently named a breakout candidate by Sam Vecenie on the Game Theory Podcast. Henderson's improved play from last season should carry over to his third year, but Vecenie also highlights how he could be even better due to the pieces Portland has surrounded him with.
Scoot Henderson has the infrastructure for a breakout season
"What I like most is the infrastructure that they have built for him with older vets around. Damian Lillard is going to be rehabbing and hopefully helping Scoot figure this out this year. They have one of the best offensive guards to ever play right there, hopefully in Scoot's ear," Vecenie said. "Given that Dame seems really happy to be in Portland, I would imagine that he's going to really be there to help Scoot this year, is my hope. That's really what I'm envisioning with Lillard."
Lillard's return will positively impact the Blazers in multiple aspects, one of which will be the development of Henderson. But he's not the only one who will help Scoot reach his ceiling. Portland also added another veteran guard in Jrue Holiday, who can help Henderson on the defensive side of the ball and provide a calming on-court presence.
"On the other side, you have Jrue Holiday, another vet. You have one of the best guard defenders we've seen in the last 25 years, who can hopefully kind of get in his ear and help him. A guy who played on the ball when he was really young, and one who made an All-Star game when he was young, playing on the ball," Vecenie continued. "Jrue Holiday has had these opportunities that Scoot Henderson is getting, and figured out, quite similarly at a young age, how he had to make this work. If you remember Jrue Holiday's rookie season, it was not that sweet... he didn't really take that leap into All-Star status until year four."
Holiday is yet another example of a guard who took a while to adjust to the NBA level. He averaged just eight points in his rookie season with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Despite the slow start to his career, Holiday had a veteran mentor in Andre Iguodala. Holiday talked about the impact Iguodala had on his development in his introductory press conference with the Blazers. In retrospect, he realized Iguodala was being a "jerk" and giving Holiday tough love because he believed in his untapped potential. Holiday also referred to Henderson as "the next one up," suggesting he could see something similar in Henderson and be that much-needed jerk this time around.
Portland has received valid criticism for acquiring an expensive Jrue Holiday, as the 35-year-old doesn't fit their rebuilding timeline. It's possible that Holiday's presence also forces at least one of Henderson or Shaedon Sharpe to come off the bench. However, the silver lining is that Portland doesn't have much backcourt depth this season, especially with Lillard expected to miss the entire season.
Regardless of who starts, there will be plenty of backcourt minutes to go around. Holiday could be just who Henderson needs to help reach his ceiling, potentially resulting in that breakout season Blazers fans have been eagerly waiting for.