Last offseason, it was Shaedon Sharpe who was deemed the standout performer in the Portland Trail Blazers' training camp. His promising offseason ultimately made Portland feel more comfortable committing to Sharpe long-term, reaching a four-year, $90 million extension before the season.
Could history be repeating itself with Scoot Henderson this time around?
At practice, Jrue Holiday was asked by Conor Bergin of Blazer's Edge who the training camp MVP has been so far, and without hesitation, the veteran guard's answer was none other than Henderson.
Scoot Henderson could be on the verge of a breakout in Portland
It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that Scoot is picking up where he left off last season.
His 2025-26 season as a whole was underwhelming, in large part due to a hamstring injury he suffered during an offseason workout. Henderson only returned in time to play 30 regular season games, though his most notable contribution came during Portland's first-round playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs.
Henderson was the X-factor early on in the series, recording 18, 31, and 21 points through the first three games. Unfortunately, his volatility remains an issue that was exposed as the series progressed, with Henderson totaling just five points through the final two games.
At Media Day, general manager Joe Cronin even mentioned that though retaining Henderson is a high priority for them, his inconsistent play up until this point does complicate a potential extension.
"There has been dialogue and seemingly mutual interest to find a deal that makes sense for both sides," Cronin said. "A lot of times these types of deals are hard to come by, especially for a high-variance player like Scoot has been so far, where he's shown some really great moments and then some other moments where there are still a few questions around his game. So those can be tricky sometimes, but speaking from the Trail Blazers perspective, he's definitely a high-priority player for us."
There's more uncertainty surrounding whether Portland will ultimately extend Scoot before the season compared to Sharpe and even Toumani Camara last year. Not only has he failed to take the keys to this backcourt, but now his role is even less clear following the trade for Ja Morant.
Fortunately, he's quietly redefined his role since entering the league, becoming much better equipped to take on an off-ball role thanks to an improving 3-and-D skillset. That's going to go a long way for Henderson to carve out minutes in this revamped backcourt, which could even result in that full-on breakout everyone in Portland has been waiting for.
Cronin sounded committed long-term to Henderson at Media Day. If that's truly the case, with Henderson already emerging as the standout performer in training camp, it could be in the Blazers' best interest to reach an extension. Financially speaking, it makes sense to get ahead of that breakout, especially since it could come at a discount given the risk attached to Henderson's volatility.
Add us as a preferred source on Google