Expectations were high for Scoot Henderson when the Portland Trail Blazers selected him third overall in the 2023 NBA Draft. The G League Ignite alum was supposed to set the league on fire. The Blazers underlined this by trading away decade-long incumbent Damian Lillard the same summer they acquired Scoot.
It’s fair to say that, in the season and a half since, hopes for Henderson have become more muted. The only things he set on fire during his first season were the betting slips on his Rookie of the Year chances. His second campaign has featured incremental improvements, but he’s still not in a starting role and his play is not bankable night to night.