Blazers News: Young Lottery Pick Seen As Primary Focus of Rebuild

One of the Trail Blazers' recent lottery picks is being viewed as the central building block for the franchise.

Entering the new NBA season, the Portland Trail Blazers have one mission in mind and that is to start building themselves back up. The team finished with a record of 21-61 last season and it saw them be placed at the bottom of the Western Conference standings.

The front office will be trying to evaluate which players on their young core are going to be cornerstones going forward. Portland has done a decent job adding talent over the last few years but now it's all about growth and development.

Eddie Bitar of The Post and Carrier listed former lottery pick Scoot Henderson as the player that Portland should primarily focus on in their rebuild.

"After trading Damian Lillard last year, the Portland Trail Blazers are fully committed to a rebuild, and their primary focus for 2024-25 is developing their young star, Scoot Henderson. As the face of the franchise, Henderson will be given the keys to the offense, and his growth as a leader and playmaker will be paramount to the team’s success moving forward. Portland will likely prioritize player development over immediate wins, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be competitive. With other promising young players like Shaedon Sharpe and Anfernee Simons, the Blazers have intriguing pieces that could turn into a formidable core although they could look to cash in on win-now players including Deandre Ayton and Jerami Grant."

Getting Henderson up to speed will be massive for the Trail Blazers if they want to truly contend in the NBA. The former No. 3 overall pick put together a decent first season in the NBA but there is plenty for him to work on.

He averaged 14.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game. However, his shooting from beyond the 3-point line was a little weak, coming in at 32.5 percent.

His lack of a 3-point shot as well as his high turnover rate put a damper on his first season in the NBA. Henderson averaged 3.4 turnovers per game and it's something that he will need to clean up moving forward.

He has all the skills needed to become an All-Star level player but needs to put it all together on the court. The team seems to be willing to be patient with Henderson but he will need to show that he can be the guy for them at some point. This year could be a breaking point for Henderson as the Trail Blazers heavily evaluate his future on the team.

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