The Portland Trail Blazers have enjoyed a fantastic, unexpected 5-1 start to the new season, and role players like Jrue Holiday are already making huge contributions in helping this team race out of the blocks. With Ja Morant likely to miss a month with a hamstring issue, this was supposed to be the chance for Scoot Henderson to prove he can be a key piece for this exciting group. He has so far failed to take advantage of the opportunity.
Nuggets win latest reminder Trail Blazers are better when Henderson sits
Monday night's impressive win over the Denver Nuggets was the latest chance for the 22-year-old point guard, and he failed to deliver. Starting for the second time this season, about the only positive he can take away from his eight-point, two-assist performance was his ability to drive into the paint to collapse the defense.
The Trail Blazers spent much of the first half with five players camped around the 3-point line, which led to some ugly possessions. On the occasions when Henderson could get downhill and find a lane, he either scored or created some space for others to get going. Really, though, it was only when he went to the bench and Holiday entered the game that the Trail Blazers began to literally wrestle control of the contest from Nikola Jokic and company.
Portland currently sits fourth in offensive rating (118.8 points per game), and although the 41 point opening night beatdown of the sorry Phoenix Suns inflates that number somewhat, this already looks like a cohesive offense that can hurt opponents in many ways.
Only when Henderson is on the court are the Trail Blazers managing an average of only 102 points. That would put them second-to-last in the NBA, behind only the Charlotte Hornets (100.4). Defensively, you could make the case that Henderson is a better fit than Morant because of his more physical frame, but he is also now benefiting from sharing the court more with Toumani Camara and unsung hero Sidy Sissoko.
Henderson needs to give much more to be key player off the bench
Morant will be back before we know it, and Holiday is quickly building a solid Sixth Man of the Year case with this group. Henderson is going to get left behind if he cannot figure out a way to give the Trail Blazers more on both ends of the court each night.
This is a team that currently looks the most likely to cause a first-round upset in the playoffs this season, and although there is a long way to go between now and then, having contributors deep in their bench, like Henderson, is the best way to make it to next spring ready to shock the league. If that does not happen, perhaps the Trail Blazers can pick up the phone and enquire about trading Henderson to the Suns for Dillon Brooks.
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