How does Scoot Henderson fit into the Portland Trail Blazers' long-term plans? This was supposed to be the player Portland was going to build around. They essentially picked Henderson's timeline over Damian Lillard's, drafting his replacement with the No. 3 overall pick the same summer they traded away their superstar. But now in his third season, Henderson unfortunately hasn't done enough to be considered a building block in Portland.
There have been flashes, including a 25-point performance against Utah and a 28-point outing against Indiana. But can those games come against good teams? And more importantly, can they come more consistently?
Scoot Henderson is running out of time to prove he belongs in Portland
Good defensive teams have a combination of an elite rim protector or pesky guards. Both seem to give Henderson trouble, as he's a guard who continues to struggle with turnovers and shooting, making him overly reliant on getting to the rim to generate offense.
That's become a major problem, as Henderson hasn't been the Derrick Rose-type athletic guard many expected him to be when he entered the league. The NBA is a league full of top-tier athletes, often making skill set the differentiating factor. That's where Scoot's transition to the NBA has been rocky. He's still struggling as a decision-maker with the ball in his hands, yet he isn't reliable enough with floor spacing to be used off-ball effectively.
There's still plenty of time to figure out his place in the league, as he's just 22. But the longer it takes to turn that theoretical player into reality, the more likely it becomes that Henderson may have to figure it out elsewhere as a restricted free agent.
The opportunity cost of missing out on the prospects around Henderson means Portland missed on this pick. Fortunately for the sake of their rebuild, the Blazers have been able to overcome that miss with lopsided trades, stealing Deni Avdija and Toumani Camara. Avdija has become a star this season, stepping up to keep the Blazers afloat in what has been an injury-riddled season. During that, he's proven to be most effective with the ball in his hands as a point-forward. That's where this Blazers roster should be headed, as that is how this team reaches its ceiling.
But where does that leave Scoot?
This was a make-or-break season for Scoot Henderson
He's hovered around 34% from beyond the arc since entering the league, showing little to no progress as a shooter. And with the Blazers suddenly looking to accelerate their rebuilding timeline around Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard, they may be running out of time to let Henderson play through these growing pains.
That's why this was considered a make-or-break season for Portland's young guard. It seemed like it was now or never for him to earn the keys to this backcourt. An untimely hamstring tear suffered during an offseason workout already had Scoot behind schedule, leaving him on the outside looking in of a young core that was continuing to grow together.
This last stretch of the season is going to be crucial for proving he belongs in that group. It's no longer about showing flashes of the player he could potentially become. Portland already knows that the upside is there. But whether or not he can reach it is another question entirely. The Blazers' confidence in that will determine whether he truly belongs in Portland in the coming seasons.