. In the New York Times puzzle game “Wordle,” participants get six guesses to figure out what five-letter word the game wants you to guess.
As you run through your chances, the intensity to find the right combination of letters to make everything fall into place ramps up.
On November 3, the word was “Scoot.”
It seemed appropriate because, just days before, Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson found himself back in the starting lineup after an injury to newly acquired star Ja Marant. It was the latest chance he’s had to establish himself as part of the team’s future over what have been an occasionally up, but mostly down, first three years of his Trail Blazers tenure.
Henderson is now in his fourth season, and his third coach, and he appears to be running out of time to prove he can move from “star of the future” to “solid piece of the now” for the Trail Blazers.
He has not had an easy go of it. He entered the league in 2023 as an incredibly raw talent but was incredibly hyped as the future of the team after Damian Lillard was traded to Milwaukee. After he didn’t take a significant step forward in his second season, the team acquired veteran guard Jrue Holiday. Between a significant injury that limited him to just 30 games and Holiday’s presence on the roster eating up minutes, he didn’t take a significant leap forward last year either.
With Lillard returning to Portland and Morant joining the team, Henderson finds himself on the outside looking in for playing time in his fourth year in the league. The team declined to exercise his fifth-year rookie option, setting him up for restricted free agency after this season.
Without an extension, this year was supposed to be his “prove it” year and show that he could build on the flashes of potential he showed in last season’s playoff series with the San Antonio Spurs.
With Shaedon Sharpe out injured and Morant joining him on the injured list, Henderson slotted back into the starting lineup, moving up the depth chart and giving him a chance to show what he could do.
Alas, the opportunity would not last long.
In the five games he started before losing his lineup spot to Sidy Cissoko, Scoot’s playing time eroded with each game; his shot touch never got untracked, and his decision-making and defense never appeared to improve significantly from his rookie season.
Things came to a head in a disastrous showing against the Lakers on November 6, when he scored two points, went 0-2 from the field, and had five turnovers and five personal fouls.
The next night – a blowout loss to the Sacramento Spurs – he went 0-5 from the three-point range and managed a -23 +/- differential, meaning the Blazers were outscored by 23 points when he was on the court.
The next day, Cissoko took his spot in the starting lineup.
Cissoko, Henderson’s teammate at G League Ignite and the 41st pick in the 2023 NBA draft, promptly thrived in his new role.
In back-to-back wins over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Cissoko averaged more than 30 minutes per game. He scored 17 points on November 10, going 5-for-14 from the field, and then scored 19 on November 11, going 6-for-9 from the field, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. While he picked up 8 fouls in both games, he only turned the ball over twice.
Whoever is the Trail Blazers second starting guard with Morant out, they will see plenty of relief from Holiday, so their job description is to not turn the ball over and take advantage of the opportunities they receive while being surrounded by Damian Lillard, Deni Advija, and a resurgent Toumani Camara. Cissoko immediately grabbed hold of the opportunity with both hands, something Henderson hasn’t been able to do.
While Cissoko saw a season-high 33 minutes against the Thunder on Tuesday, and then 29 on Wednesday, Henderson saw his second-lowest total of the season – 19 minutes – on Wednesday, despite the team being on the second night of a back-to-back where older players such as Lillard and Holiday would typically see fewer minutes.
While Henderson took his re-demotion to the bench gracefully and praised Cissoko, telling The Athletic, “Whatever I’ve got to do to help the team win, I’m up for it.”, getting sent back to the bench doesn’t bode well for his future in Portland.
No one can doubt Henderson’s energy or his positive attitude. But despite occasional flashes, he has yet to put all of his skills together at the same time. He struggles to finish at the rim; he’s prone to turnovers and fouls, and if his three-point shot isn’t falling, he can disappear from the box score.
He’s still just 22 but has now been passed on the depth chart by a player from his same G League team in his same draft class, who is the same age and was considered even more raw as a late second-round pick coming into the league.
The Trail Blazers are currently surging, with an 8-3 record to start the season. Morant will likely be back in a few weeks, and Sharpe will be back later this season. If Henderson hasn’t found his niche by then, it’s entirely possible that a player who’s had so many chances to prove he is part of the team’s future may be on his way to becoming part of its past.
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