Scoot Henderson Is Gradually Developing Into The Blazers’ Star

Portland played more meaningful games this season, winning 36 games, a massive step up from 21 in the previous campaign. Scoot played a huge role in that, as he was the spark plug with his improved shooting and solid playmaking. In 20 games from January 14 to February 26, Henderson averaged 15.1 points and 5.5 assists per game. He also shot 47.7% from the field and 44.5% from three.

Coach Billups knew Henderson had an impressive year, as he singled Scoot out in his exit interview.

“I thought Scoot took a step this year. It was up and down a little bit. But I thought it was more up than anything,” Billups said about Henderson. “I thought he got a lot of confidence in his jump shot this year, and we all have a ton of confidence in it. So, that’s one thing that I think now he can kind of move on to other things.”

Scoot Knows What He Needs To Work On

As Scoot enters his third NBA campaign in the 2025-26 season, he has plenty to prove. Many of his fellow 2023 draftees are taking the star leap like Wembanyama and Amen. Henderson is far from becoming a star, but this offseason could be crucial to his development.

Thankfully for Blazers fans, Scoot knows he has plenty to work on. That is the right mindset ahead of the offseason, where he has months to keep working on his game. In his exit interview, Henderson spoke about becoming more comfortable in the league and how that helped him.

“I’d say this year, I guess the game kind of slowed down. Things like that only come from playing and experiencing the NBA in general. Just playing games, playing ball at this level. I had more fun,” Scoot said in his interview. “I think that’s my whole thing. The more aggressive I am, the better I play on both sides of the ball. The more aggressive I am on defense, the basketball gods always kind of help you out there. As long as you’re playing the game right.”

If he can keep developing, he will become one of the Blazers’ irreplaceable players. Scoot could become the Blazers’ star, and he must keep working and proving the critics wrong. The 20-game stretch in January and February was superb, and Henderson will keep working towards consistency. Portland had a promising year amidst a losing record, but the NBA has to be wary of this dangerous team.