Trail Blazers News: Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo Regret Scoot Henderson Optimism

Alex Kirschenbaum | Apr 12, 2024

Apr 3, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson dribbles against Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller. / Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

When Portland Trail Blazers rookie point guard Scoot Henderson was selected out of the G League Ignite with the third pick in last summer's starry draft class, it seemed like his emergence as an NBA star was a fait accompli. That hasn't proven to be the case just yet.

The 20-year-old is averaging 13.7 points on .385/.312/.821 shooting splits, 5.3 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 0.8 steals through his 60 available games this year (30 starts). Those numbers are fairly respectable, but certainly nothing earth-shattering, the field goal shooting is an eyesore.

Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller, however, has already emerged as a prolific scorer after he was selected just ahead of Henderson, with the No. 2 pick in the draft. In 73 games this year (67 starts), Miller is averaging 17.4 points on .440/.374/.825 shooting splits, 4.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.6 blocks per bout. He's already scored over 40 points multiple times.

In a fresh installment of The Ringer's Bill Simmons Podcast, Simmons and Ryen Russillo unpacked their prior optimism for Henderson's prospects as a pro over Miller's ahead of the season. Both admonished Charlotte at the time of the draft for supposedly overlooking Henderson in the draft.

"Brandon Miller's awesome," Simmons said. "And Scoot had a -58 and a -57 [plus-minus] this year. I'm not giving up on Scoot, but we were pretty adamant that this was an apocalyptic disaster, and so far we've been dead wrong."

"I obviously loved Scoot, but then you turned it into, 'You're an idiot for not taking Scoot because of LaMelo Ball,' which I didn't say... and that's the one that makes it [their criticizing Charlotte] look even worse."

"Here's what happens is, I like a prospect and then you dump gasoline all over the way I'm into the guy, and then it becomes this inferno that's uncontrollable. We are wrong about Brandon Miller vs. Scoot, but I am not giving up on Scoot, not out of stubbornness, but because I am not giving up on somebody this young that was just thrown out there to take point guard... I think he has to take his lumps... but he's actually played better the last couple weeks, there's real positive signs."