Five takeaways from Scoot Henderson's Summer League debut
No. 3 overall pick Scoot Henderson may get the keys to the Portland Trail Blazers offense after Damian Lillard’s trade request. Here are five takeaways from Rip City’s new point guard.
1. He impressed the crowd right away
Henderson scored 13 points and delivered three assists in an electrifying first quarter. He was getting to the rim at will against the Rockets’ rangy young players and scoring in artful ways at the basket.
He made his first four shots before cooling off later.
2. Scoot likes to share the ball
Early on, Henderson was drawing so much defensive attention that he regularly found teammates for easy dunks and wide-open threes. Both rookie Kris Murray and second-year player Shaedon Sharpe were beneficiaries of Henderson’s court vision and generosity. He finished with six assists, but he honestly could have doubled that total if he got credit for passes that led to foul shots.
3. His jump shot is still a work in progress
While Henderson shows flashes with his outside shot, it certainly wasn’t consistent in his first game. Some of his off-the-dribble jumpers were downright ugly. Obviously it’s just one game, but Henderson might need to keep defenses honest so they don’t sag off him to protect against his drives.
4. Henderson can hang with serious athletes
The Portland-Houston matchup featured ridiculous athletes on both sides. Houston has Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, Cam Whitmore and last year’s No. 3 pick, Jabari Smith Jr. While the game featured plenty of spectacular dunks and blocks, Henderson showed a ton of speed and explosiveness against very explosive players — but Eason had the best dunk of the night.
5. This may be his only Summer League game
Like Sharpe last year, Henderson suffered an injury in his very first game. Unlike Sharpe, Henderson was so good in that first game that Portland might have considered shutting him down anyway.
This year, Sharpe was great in his first game, hitting step-back threes and bringing the Vegas crowd to its feet with a number of impressive dunks.
BONUS: Blazers fans can save money on new jerseys
After Dame’s 11 years in Portland, there’s thousands of Blazers fans who have bought Lillard’s No. 0 jersey. Henderson chose a double-zero, meaning a budget-conscious fan can easily turn a Lillard jersey into a Henderson jersey with a small amount of tape.
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