Portland Trail Blazers: Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe Offer New Era

In last Thursday’s draft, the Portland Trail Blazers had offensive dynamo Scoot Henderson fall into their laps with the third overall pick. But they’re still in a precarious position heading into the 2023-24 regular season.

Longtime superstar Damian Lillard is currently still a Portland Trail Blazer, and despite some rising tension from his camp, seems to be heading towards being with the team next season.

While having Lillard’s talents is, of a course, a good thing, it could very well hamper the development of Portland’s new young core. And that’s not even accounting for guard Anfernee Simons, who sees plenty deserved production in his own right.

As an athletic tandem, Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe would be nearly unrivaled (perhaps only by the newly formed Houston duo of Jalen Green and Amen Thompson). As as a duo in general, they fit on-paper too, and could very well be one of the more dynamic backcourt in the league in just a few short years.

With the Ignite, Henderson averaged 16.5 points, 6.5 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game, and for all intents and purposes is set to be a strong point guard option in the league with hyper-athleticism, a smooth jump shot and decent and rapidly improving passing chops.

Sharpe averaged 9.9 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists in year one with Portland, primarily slashing and utilizing his own elite athleticism or shooting threes with his smooth mechanics.

Of course, it won’t be the end of the world if Lillard remains a Trail Blazers next season. Amassing talent like Henderson’s can’t be viewed as a bad thing. But in the least, Henderson and former No. 7 pick Shaedon Sharpe offer Portland a brighter future.

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