In the span of just one season, Scoot Henderson has made tremendous strides. His counting stats may not jump off the page, as his 13 points and 5.1 assists are similar to last year, but he's quietly having a breakout second season with the Trail Blazers. Henderson has improved several aspects of his game, including his playmaking, three-point shooting, and finishing around the rim.
Many were concerned about Scoot being a potential draft bust after his rocky rookie season. If he didn't pan out, it could set Portland's rebuild back for years, considering he was the player they invested the highest draft capital in. Henderson just needed more time to figure things out in the NBA, as he's turned a corner in 2025.
History has shown that smaller guards in the NBA take a notoriously long time to pan out. Henderson is still on track to potentially become Portland's much-needed All-Star solution. His career trajectory is similar to that of star guards around the league, including Darius Garland and De'Aaron Fox.
Sam Vecenie of The Athletic recently brought up this comparison with Bryce Simon of Motor City Hoops on The Game Theory Podcast.
"If you told me there was a 21-year-old point guard who's [averaging these stats], I'd be pretty excited," said Vecenie. "Scoot has had a pretty solid year. Twenty-five games here now, we're not at a massive sample, but we're closing in on -- if he does this for the rest of the year -- that's a real half-season of 21-year-old point guard play that is really good. That is right in line with guys like Garland, De'Aaron Fox, etc. It took a little bit of time for them to figure out exactly what their games were."
Comparing Scoot Henderson's second season to other star guards
Scoot Henderson | Darius Garland | De'Aaron Fox | |
|---|---|---|---|
MIN | 26.8 | 33.1 | 31.4 |
PTS | 13.0 | 17.4 | 17.3 |
AST | 5.1 | 6.1 | 7.3 |
REB | 3.0 | 2.4 | 3.8 |
TO | 2.6 | 3.0 | 2.8 |
FG% | 43.2 | 45.1 | 45.8 |
3P% | 36.9 | 39.5 | 37.1 |
FT% | 77.2 | 84.8 | 72.7 |
TS% | 55.5 | 54.7 | 54.4 |
USG% | 22.4 | 25.0 | 24.5 |
ORTG | 109.2 | 104.6 | 109.9 |
DRTG | 117.2 | 117.1 | 110.9 |
PER | 13.4 | 14.1 | 18.1 |
Henderson's traditional stats are worse, but his advanced stats highlight his efficient season, beating Garland in true shooting percentage and offensive rating. He's also had less opportunity to thrive than the other guards because his minutes and usage rate are both lower (which Portland needs to address next season).
Still, in this case, we'd take the stats of Player B and Player C over Player A, as would Vecenie.
"Scoot is a little bit of a level below that," Vecenie added. "We're on track for Scoot, at the very least, to be a good starting point guard in the NBA. We'll see if he reaches the All-Star heights that we all thought he could get to, but we're in a really positive growth moment to where we're past the point of Scoot being some bust or anything like that."
Garland managed to make another impressive leap in his third season, making his first All-Star appearance at just 22 years old. Meanwhile, it took Fox until his sixth season in Sacramento to become an All-Star.
Regardless of how long it takes, we'd be thrilled if Scoot pans out to become an All-Star. However, the fact that Henderson is even in the conversation with these two-star guards is promising for his future outlook. He's right on track to become the player Portland expected when they picked him No. 3 overall.