Dream Draft: Thunder Jump the Lotto and Land Scoot Henderson
Imagine for a moment that the Thunder land the second overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery this Tuesday night. In this dream scenario, assuming Victor Wembanyama is off the board, the Thunder would select Scoot Henderson, an explosive point guard prospect that has the potential to accelerate the trajectory of an NBA franchise.
At 19 years old, Henderson has turned himself into arguably the best point guard prospect not named LeBron James to ever enter the draft.Standing at 6-foot-2 with a reported 6-foot-9 wingspan, he has it all: great size, s-tier athleticism, three-level scoring ability, long arms, a strong frame, and strong passing chops, and more.
Henderson’s game resembles the Thunder’s former star point guard, Russell Westbrook, in a lot of ways. He’s lightning fast, vertically explosive, a relentless competitor, and isn’t afraid to get downhill and throw down tomahawk dunks on the biggest players on the floor.
But what distinguishes Henderson from Westbrook is his shooting upside/ability. Whereas Westbrook posted a true shooting percentage of 53.8 in his second year at UCLA, Henderson recorded a 54.9 in his second year in the G League where the 3-point line is further back and the competition is better.
Pairing Henderson with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would give the Thunder a shot in the arm offensively and right away and arguably the most dangerous backcourt in the entire league long-term.
Think about it. Have you ever seen a one-two combo featuring two point guards that can both get downhill at will and make defenses pay from the outside? No longer would the opposition be able to gameplan for just Gilgeous-Alexander.
Such a duo surrounded by a blossoming young corps of Jalen Williams, Josh Giddey, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Joe, Aleksej Pokusevski and Ousmane Dieng would almost assuredly have the Thunder in the playoff picture year as soon as next year and for years to come.
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