The first two seasons of Scoot Henderson has had plenty of highs and lows; since being drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers with the second overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft, Henderson hasn’t quite established himself yet as the team’s starting point guard, with the team opting to roll with Anfernee Simons at the one and Shaedon Sharpe at the two. But even if Henderson didn’t quite get as much burn in his sophomore year as he did in his rookie campaign, he still made plenty of strides, especially from an efficiency standpoint.
Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, however, wants to continue seeing plenty of improvements from Henderson, who could be primed for a big year especially if they do decide to finally trade Simons away. Billups, in particular, implored the upcoming third-year guard to keep on working tirelessly on his game.
“So, my challenge for Scoot all summer has been: we need to be playing as much as we can, man. We need to be playing,” Billups said in an exclusive interview with KATU News. “You have to play basketball — and a ton of it — to be able to see those things and for the game to slow down for you. So that’s my challenge for him. And again, it’s one of the reasons why he’s here in town—working, playing hard, playing five-on-five every single day. And he’s continuing to get better.”
Henderson is only 21 years of age, and he won’t be turning 22 until February of next year. He has time on his side to establish himself as a high-level point guard for the Blazers, and as he continues to heed Billups’ challenge, he should keep on developing the necessary tools to lead a team as young as Portland has.
Scoot Henderson primed for a big third season for the Blazers?
Henderson made plenty of strides last season; his true shooting percentage improved from 48.9 during his rookie campaign, to 54.0 during his sophomore season. His assist to turnover ratio also improved, and this bodes well for his development as the Blazers’ point guard of the future.
As for Billups, he saw just how far Henderson has come especially as he took a workload that became progressively heavier.
“As you can see throughout the season, as he played more and more and more, that’s when things started to change for him. He starts to see different things. He starts to be able to put teams in disadvantaged situations. He sees the lob. He sees the kick-out. He finishes,” Billups added.
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