Portland's Scoot Henderson: Sophomore Outlook

As the No. 3 selection in 2023, Scoot Henderson's rookie season was to be full of highlight plays at the rim and explosiveness that trumped any other rookie in his class. That was true, and there were a lot of those impressive, eye-opening plays from the G League Ignite product. But there were also plenty of flaws, and flaws that made his debut season in the league less desirable than the third selection at times.

But those flaws comes with the outlook of being able to improve and the motivation to become better in the offseason. Henderson seemingly has that type of fire in him, the want to get better and to improve all around.

In his rookie campaign, the 6-foot-3 slashing guard put up 14.0 points on 38.5% shooting, 32.5% from three, and also generated 5.4 assists but inefficiently with 3.4 turnovers per game. His 5.4 led all rookie facilitators, but his 212 turnovers on the season gave him the second to top spot in that department just behind Victor Wembanyama, who played nine games more than Henderson. From a league-wide perspective, Henderson was tied for ninth in most turnovers per game.

In 62 games and battling through a couple of injury stints, the 20-year-old rookie had a successful season nonetheless, but the expectations surrounding him I think exceeded his ability on a limited Blazers roster along with being pitted against a very strong rookie class.

But that's not to say Henderson's efficiency issues weren't a point of concern throughout the season. 5.4 assists a night is great, but a 1.58 assist-to-turnover ratio is nothing to write home about for one of the team's primary playmakers and ball handlers. In the offseason, controlling his speed and tenacity on the court while being able to better process his reads will hopefully help curb some of those mistakes. Many times he'd find himself out of control on the floor, seemingly like a young Russell Westbrook if we want to add a comparison.

Regardless, Henderson's rookie season was impactful. And I think it's safe to say he'll only improve next season, but he'll of course need to be highly proactive in the offseason.

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