Blazers News: Chauncey Billups Sees Silver Lining With Scoot Henderson's Rough Rookie Season

Matt Levine | Oct 7, 2024

The Portland Trail Blazers are preparing for another NBA season and this year, they will be looking to be much more competitive. Portland has a nice young nucleus of players to work with and the team will be looking for more growth this season.

One of the main players that the Trail Blazers will be counting on is point guard Scoot Henderson. Henderson had an okay rookie season last year but it didn't come close to the intense hype that surrounded him entering the league.

He averaged 14.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game. However, his shooting from beyond the 3-point line left something to be desired, coming in at just 32.5 percent.

Henderson also struggled with turnovers, a worrying sign for a young guard. He averaged 3.4 turnovers per game, something that will come back to haunt him if he doesn't clean things up.

But despite the struggles that Henderson saw, Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups sees a silver lining with his rookie year.

You can tell that his confidence is so much different now. He plays ferocious, as we all know, but he has a little extra chip on his shoulder now after having struggled his rookie year. So I’ve been happy with where he’s at. I think Scoot’s going to have a good season."

Chauncey Billups on Scoot Henderson going into year 2: "You can tell that his confidence is so much different now. He plays ferocious, as we all know, but he has a little extra chip on his shoulder now after having struggled his rookie year. So I’ve been happy with where he’s at.… pic.twitter.com/6HceYIfPCc

— Sean Highkin (@highkin) October 3, 2024

Henderson will need to show the Trail Blazers that he can be the future franchise leader this season. Portland can only be so patient with him but they will give him time to grow his game even more.

The former No. 3 overall draft pick has tremendous upside, a big reason why Portland took him so high in the draft. His on-ball creation skills are elite but he just needs to put it all together while on the court.

He replaced former star guard Damian Lillard after Portland traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks, a task that wasn't easy on the young player. But entering this season, the emphasis will be on Henderson proving that he can be the guy for the Trail Blazers.

Portland is taking a slow appraoch in their rebuild after being stuck in mediocrity for years. With Henderson in the mix, along with guard Shaedon Sharpe, center Donovan Clingan, and others, the franchise feels confident in their direction for the first time in years.

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