The Portland Trail Blazers already faced some bad news before the 2025-26 season started. They recently announced that young point guard Scoot Henderson had a torn hamstring, and he will be sidelined for the next four to eight weeks, which could have big implications.
After a promising second half of the 2024-25 season, the Portland Trail Blazers have a big year ahead. Scoot Henderson was supposed to be one of the most important players on the roster, but a hamstring injury has taken him out for the next four to eight weeks.
This has big implications for the Trail Blazers, even though he is only out for the early part of the season. It will play a role moving forward because Henderson was meant to cement himself as a starter early in the season.
Jrue Holiday is now the de facto starting point guard for the Trail Blazers. Unfortunately, Henderson will have to compete for a starting spot without a full training camp. People expected him to have a breakout year because of Holiday and Damian Lillard’s mentorship.
Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty ImagesHoliday is the Blazers’ starting point guard
Some people were confused when the Trail Blazers traded Anfernee Simons for Holiday. It was an interesting move, but it did set up Henderson with a mentor with championship experience. Even if Holiday started a few games, the vision was to give Henderson the reins.
That won’t happen for the first few weeks of the season because Henderson is out with an injury. Holiday is still a great choice for the Trail Blazers, considering he is one of the most respected point guards in the league. He fits right in with Chauncey Billups‘ system, which is focused on defense.
The Trail Blazers allowed 106.8 points per 100 possessions when Toumani Camara and Donovan Clingan shared the court post-All-Star.
Over a full season, Portland’s defense would’ve ranked No. 2.
Now with Jrue Holiday, Portland has an elite defensive unit.pic.twitter.com/XYKAWudjxU
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) August 9, 2025
View Tweet
Toumani Camara and the rest of the Trail Blazers will have a reliable point guard who can be great on both ends of the floor. Henderson brought excitement to Portland in the 2024-25 season, and they will have to wait a while before they get him back.
Holiday might be an older player, but he can still keep up with the Trail Blazers’ young rotation. Players like Camara, Shaedon Sharpe, and Deni Avdija thrive in the open court. Trust Holiday to make a difference with his playmaking ability, even though he is not as athletic as his teammates.
Other players will step up without Henderson
Holiday won’t be the only solution to Henderson’s injury. Other players must step up as lead guard, which could lead to the promising Sharpe and Avdija taking bigger roles with the ball. They have shown decent skills in that role, so they could roll out a bigger lineup at times.
Billups could go deep into his bench and utilize two-way rookie Caleb Love or recent signing Blake Wesley. Neither player is too experienced as a lead guard, but Wesley has been in the NBA for a while, so he could get some minutes.
Expect a lot of Blake Wesley off the bench until Scoot is back. Can be a serviceable backup to Jrue and had some really good moments with the Spurs last year
— 🅵🅾🆁🆃🅷🅴🅵🅰🅽🆂 🎙 (@503Blazerfans) September 26, 2025
View Tweet
It will be interesting to see how Billups adjusts because the Blazers will benefit from his tough decisions. This will be a tough situation for the early part of the season, but if Henderson can come back earlier than expected, this won’t be too much of a problem.
Henderson should be motivated to return as soon as possible because his future with the Blazers is in the balance. He has to step up and live up to his expectations, especially with a Lillard co-sign being presented over the past few weeks.