Zach Lowe Weighs In On Hornets' Decision To Avoid Now-Trail Blazer Scoot Henderson In Draft

During a recent conversation with The Athletic's John Hollinger, Zach Lowe of ESPN explained on his must-listen pod The Lowe Post that, for him at least, the jury was out on whether the Charlotte Hornets made the right decision to (at the time) controversially pass over elite point guard prospect Scoot Henderson in this past summer's NBA draft. The Hornets instead selected 6'9" combo forward Brandon Miller out of Alabama, who made one horrific decision off the court during his lone college season, but has been pretty elite on it in his subsequent NBA rookie year.

"...I think we've already reached a point where I would have a hard time envisioning any scenario where Charlotte regrets this pick, like looks back at this pick with deep regret," Lowe opined. 

The prolific Miller's smooth game has already translated to the NBA, if not to wins. Alongside another guy who's made some heinous choices away from the hardwood in Miles Bridges, Miller is averaging 16.6 points on .444/.386/.836 shooting splits, 4.1 rebounds and 2.3 dimes a night, and recently had two 40+ point scoring nights within the same week.

Henderson, a 6'3" guard who reclassified after three years of high school to play for the G League Ignite developmental team early in 2021, was instead selected by Portland with the third pick this summer.

He's had an incredibly rocky go of it to start off his NBA career, even beyond being dogged by injury issues (he sprained an ankle and missed two weeks during his first month in the league).

The 19-year-old has been toggled between a starting and bench role by indecisive head coach Chauncey Billups for much of the year, averaging 12.9 points on .375/.310/.818 shooting splits, 4.7 dimes, three rebounds and 0.6 steals.

"For a rookie point guard on a bad team with a bad jump shot, the track record suggested this was going to be ugly," Lowe said. "Then he has an ankle injury that sidelines him for the early part of the season. He comes back and it's like, 'Well Malcolm Brogdon is over here, sometimes, Anfernee Simons is over here, sometimes. Am I the point guard, am I an off-guard, am I starting, not starting?'"

Henderson has been raw, but to Lowe's point the young guard was put in a strange situation, on a 15-39 team with an ill-fitting roster. Has Miller been by far the better player to this point? Yes, but given his attributes, it always seemed likely he would blossom first. Let's put a pin in this conversation until at least the end of their rookie-scale contracts.