For the first three years of his career, the Portland Trail Blazers have been criticized for picking Scoot Henderson in the 2023 NBA Draft. But over the course of his last three games, Henderson has started to look like the player everyone thought he could be. He’s making up for all the times the Blazers were bullied for the selection.
Obviously, Henderson has dealt with plenty of injury issues early on in his career. It has made it much harder for him to find a rhythm, which has inevitably hurt his growth. But now that he’s been able to learn from his experience and actually get on the court, he looks great.
And there’s still plenty of time for him to turn into the star Portland hoped he would be when they drafted him.
Scoot Henderson is finally putting the pieces together in Portland
Henderson was the No. 3 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. The San Antonio Spurs selected Victor Wembanyama with the first pick (the consensus choice), and the Charlotte Hornets picked Brandon Miller at No. 2.
Then went Henderson. But the players who were picked after him are part of the reason that the Blazers have been scolded for their choice to pick Henderson.
Picks No. 4 and No. 5 were Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson. Two twins who went to the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons, respectively. Both of those guys have turned into premier NBA defenders.
Because of that, a lot of people believed that (in hindsight) the Blazers should have picked Thompson at No. 3. And that still may be true. But lately, Henderson has looked a lot like the guy the Blazers were hoping to get at No. 3.
On Friday night, in a 124-114 win over the Utah Jazz, Henderson finished the night with 25 points, five rebounds, eight assists, one steal, and one block while shooting 8-of-14 from the field and 5-of-7 from deep range.
But that’s not all he’s managed to do. It was merely the latest in a string of impressive games Henderson has managed to put together for the Blazers as of late.
In his last three games, Henderson has averaged 23.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 3.3 assists while shooting 61.5% from the floor and a ridiculous 59.1% from deep range on 7.1 three-point attempts per contest.
Henderson has been on fire, destroying whatever team has stepped in front of him. Obviously, Henderson will need to do all of this consistently in order to truly prove everyone wrong.
That said, for the time being, Henderson is making people rethink their opinions.