Trail Blazers 2024 Position Preview: Point Guard

Portland has an abundance of playmakers at the point. But will all of them be on the team next year?

Feb 4, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon (50) controls the ball under pressure from Portland Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson (00) and center Deandre Ayton (2) and forward Toumani Camara (33) and guard Anfernee Simons (1) in the first quarter at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports / Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

From 2012-23, the Portland Trail Blazers were all set at point guard.

That's because they had eight-time All-Star (seven with Portland) Damian Lillard running the show. The (allegedly) 6-foot-2 Weber State product was a spectacular three-level scorer, a dynamic presence equally adept at finishing on full court drives through traffic and stepping back for off-balance, buzzer beating triples. Lillard games were appointment television, and for a time his interplay with All-Star big man LaMarcus Aldridge and eventually not-quite-All-Star backcourt mate CJ McCollum helped keep Portland as, at least, a perennial also-ran and tough playoff out.

Lillard could never quite go the distance, at his best helping propel the team to a 2019 Western Conference Finals appearance, but a lot of that is more an indictment of former general manager Neil Olshey's roster construction than anything else. New GM Joe Cronin couldn't put together a winning team around him either, but they didn't overlap for long, and to his credit he got plenty of value back last summer when he ultimately placated Lillard's request for a trade out of town (he landed with the Milwaukee Bucks, who went 49-33 this year and lasted all of six games in this year's Eastern Conference playoffs thanks mostly to rotten injury luck).

A big part of Lillard's interest in moving on was the cold hard reality of Portland's intended selection of expected superstar point guard Scoot Henderson in the 2023 NBA Draft with its No. 3 pick. With eventual San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama and eventual Charlotte Hornets power forward Brandon Miller widely anticipated to be off the board, Henderson was the clear next pick (at the time). His upside was appetizing enough that Cronin didn't seem likely to offload the pick ahead of the draft in favor of giving Lillard more supportive veteran help.

Then, of course, Henderson wildly underwhelmed during an injury-riddled rookie season.

So how are the Trail Blazers looking with regards to the point guard position now, ahead of what could be a big summer of change which includes some tough roster crunch decisions and four draft picks (including two lottery selections)? Let's break it down.

Expected Starter: Scoot Henderson

Despite his rocky rookie season, this starting gig is still Henderson's to lose. The G League Ignite product stumbled out of the gate in 2023-24, posting some truly horrific plus-minus numbers in the early offing.

Across his 62 total games (of which he started just 32), Henderson averaged 14 points on .385/.325/.819 shooting splits — not ideal — plus 5.4 assists (against 3.4 turnovers, a team high), 3.1 rebounds and 0.8 steals a night. But if you zoom in to the final portion of his season, he actually seemed to stabilize late.

The 6-foot-3 speed demon started playing significantly better during the final two months of the season. From February through the end of the year, he posted a pair of 30-point outings and averaged 16.9 points on .399/.345/.859 shooting splits, 6.9 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.1 steals across his final 23 games as a rookie (17 starts). Henderson may be vulnerable still, especially on defense, but he flashed plenty of promise. Not enough to make an All-Rookie Team, but still enough for Portland fans to at least expect that the 20-year-old's second NBA season will go much smoother than his first.

Expected Backup: Dalano Banton

Banton's road to even becoming a reliable pro may have been uncertain, but it certainly looks like the oversized point forward (he's 6-foot-9, and can play at any of the three perimeter positions, though he was mostly used at the point and as a small forward) has a bright future.

He was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the No. 46 pick in 2021 out of Nebraska, but struggled to get much run in the Great White North. He averaged just 10.9 and nine minutes per game across his first two NBA seasons. As a free agent, Banton inked a two-year deal with the Boston Celtics in the summer of 2023. Boston flipped him to Portland for a future second round draft pick. He quickly made an outsized impact in his new home. After averaging just 2.3 points across 7.1 mop-up minutes for a Celtics team competing for a championship, Banton was really given ample room to grow on a lottery-bound team looking to maximize developmental minutes.

In 30 contests for the Blazers (eight starts), Banton averaged 16.7 points on a .408/.311/.780 slash line, 4.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.6 blocks. He's a big, long, defense-first option that gives the team an entirely different look than Henderson when he's on the floor, while also being able to play alongside Henderson thanks to his size. There's a chance that, due to his shooting limitations, he may not be a long-term solution at the point, but he's an NBA talent, and on a team that should again think about tanking next year, he deserves a ton of run.

Wild Cards: Malcolm Brogdon, Draft Picks

Brogdon was named the Sixth Man of the Year while with the Boston Celtics in 2022-23 for a reason: when healthy, he's a versatile athlete, with the size and strength to play well on both ends for either guard spot. He can knock down a jumper from anywhere and is a steady presence quarterbacking an offense. But he gets hurt a ton, and at age 31 would probably be best served seeing his expiring $22.5 million contract get shipped out to a team that's actually trying to win during the 2024-25 season.

In the 39 games he did play for Portland last year (25 starts), Brogdon averaged 15.7 points on an efficient .440/.412/.819 slash line, 5.5 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 0.7 steals a night. He's still, by far, the best point guard on the team's roster, but his timeline doesn't align with Henderson's, Henderson still has a lot of upside, and this Blazers team will once again be in the midst of a rebuild next year. Brogdon could also potentially net a first round pick in a trade, albeit most likely a lottery-protected one.

Portland also has two first round lottery draft picks, and with its No. 7 or No. 14 selections could potentially opt to draft one of a litany of talented guards: NCAA title-winning Connecticut Huskies combo guard Stephon Castle, Kentucky Wildcats point guard Rob Dillingham, injured Mega MIS guard Nikola Topic (who tore his ACL and may not play next season), Providence Friars guard Devin Carter, Duke Blue Devils point guard Jared McCain, and USC Trojans guard Isaiah Collier all could be available in that range.

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