The Blazers’ biggest disappointment so far in the 2023-24 NBA season
The Portland Trail Blazers have been pleasantly surprised thus far this season, but one disappointment lurks.
The Portland Trail Blazers have seven games left in the 2023-24 season, which marks the start of the post-Damian Lillard era. Early in the season, there have been some nice surprises, but also some disappointments. Anfernee Simons was injured in the season opener, Robert Williams III was injured in Sunday’s defeat to the Grizzlies, and the offense is currently rated dead last in the NBA.
The biggest disappointment for Blazers fans this season has to be Scoot Henderson’s play, followed by his ankle injury.
A significant change
To be fair, the Blazers’ 19-year-old rookie point guard’s expectations were already far too high. It’s simply unrealistic to expect a ball-handler that young to step into the starting lineup and excel right away. However, while Henderson improved from game to game, his failures have disappointed fans.
This season, Henderson has underperformed in several critical areas. Turnovers, fouls, rim finishing, and 3-point shooting have all been problems. Henderson averages 8.8 points on 34.6 percent shooting in 28 minutes per game. He’s just making 9.5 percent of his 3-point shots. He flips the ball four times per night. He averages four fouls each game.
These are troubling stats, but Henderson has already showed a significant improvement from game to game. Henderson has demonstrated a better knowledge of how to get to his positions using his explosive speed since his ‘welcome to the NBA’ moment against the Clippers on opening night. He still needs to figure out what he’s going to do once he arrives, but he’s already looking more at ease.
Ultimately, the Blazers’ goal this season is to provide Henderson reps and help him adjust to the NBA game. The numbers aren’t as important as showing tangible development from game one to game five, and so on. Henderson, however, is now dealing with a different problem.
Any lost time is a lost opportunity.
Henderson was having his greatest stretch of his rookie season in the second half of the Blazers’ game against the Detroit Pistons when he rolled an ankle. Henderson has been out since, missing the Blazers’ NBA in-season tournament game against the Memphis Grizzlies, as well as the rematch between the two clubs on Sunday.
