The Portland Trail Blazers are off to a 6-1 start to the season after a Wednesday road win in Phoenix. They’re currently first place in the Western Conference, looking like an improved team from last year’s first-round playoff exit.
With the depth Portland has in the backcourt, they should also be able to stay afloat in the Western Conference playoff picture despite the injuries to Shaedon Sharpe, Ja Morant, and now Vit Krejci. Each is a significant injury, with head coach Micah Nori revealing that Krejci suffered a fractured lower left leg against the Suns.
“It’s awful for Vit,” Nori said. “But we talked about it this summer, like, ‘What are you going to do with all these smalls?’ Well, goodness gracious, thank goodness we have them all.”
Even with Sharpe, Morant, and now Krejci out of the picture, Portland’s depth has sustained the blows and gotten off to a hot start. But it hasn’t necessarily been all the guards, with Scoot Henderson still struggling to find his footing to start the season.
Scoot Henderson hasn’t stepped up in Portland’s starting lineup
Nori decided to keep Jrue Holiday in that sixth man role, promoting Henderson to the starting lineup after Morant went down. Henderson hasn’t risen to the occasion, which unfortunately seems to be a common theme when it’s his time to shine in these expanded roles.
Some of that has been due to injury, with Henderson missing most of last season with a hamstring injury suffered during an offseason workout. Most considered that his make-or-break season with all these guards coming back next season, and now we’re seeing why.
Henderson had an up-and-down playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs, leaving too many questions regarding his volatility and whether it justified a long-term commitment. Ultimately, GM Joe Cronin and the Blazers decided not to reach a rookie-scale extension with Henderson.
Though he’s now set to hit restricted free agency next summer, Cronin previously referred to Henderson as a “high priority” player, saying that if they didn’t reach an extension, Portland still had one more chance to keep him around. But it was largely up to Henderson whether he was going to play his way into this young core going forward, and so far that hasn’t appeared to be the case.
November is now or never for Scoot Henderson
This month of November officially feels like it’s now or never for Henderson. It’ll be even harder to establish himself in the offensive hierarchy when ball-dominant players like Morant and later Sharpe return to the rotation.
Henderson has done a good job of playing more off-ball, improving his defense and three-point shooting since entering the league. But he’s been incredibly cold to start the season, averaging just 8.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 22.0 minutes. Most concerningly is the shooting splits of 33/20/85. Henderson either needs to be a more reliable 3-and-D piece or step up as an offensive playmaker in Morant’s absence.
Fortunately, Damian Lillard and Deni Avdija have been able to carry this offense, looking like a great fit for each other’s game. But Henderson is further down that offensive hierarchy than he should be, given all the early-season injuries. Right now he’s stuck as a combo guard who fails to create separation and generate shots for himself and teammates,s but also can’t play off-ball effectively with a shot that’s struggling so much to start the season.
Nori really has no choice but to ride this thing out with Henderson after all the injuries, but that won’t be the case forever. Eventually, Nori and the Blazers will have to decide whether Henderson actually fits into the Blazers’ roster at full strength, in the bigger picture.
And if Henderson can’t turn things around in November, it could be in Portland’s best interest to move on from their former No. 3 overall draft pick. If Henderson doesn’t emerge with all these injuries piling up, it’s hard to see a scenario where he ever will.
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