Scott Henderson has struggled to adapt to the league.
The Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-95 in the 2023-2024 NBA regular season game at Cleveland Rocket Mortgage Park on the 1st (Korea time).
The Trail Blazers, who began a rebuild after trading Damian Lillard, beat Indiana in their last game to keep Cleveland's winning streak alive with Anfernee Simmons (fingers) and Robert Williams (knee) sidelined with injuries. 。
Focusing on Shaedon Sharpe's double-double of 29 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists on this day, Malcolm Brogdon, Jerami Grant, DeAndre Ayton and other key players also did their best, but it was the Trail Blazers who scored the most. Scott Henderson, the 2023 rookie draft pick, is underperforming.
Henderson played 21 minutes and dished out seven assists on the day, but only scored two points on eight attempted shots. With current performances, it's nearly impossible to snatch a place in the starting backcourt from Brogdon and Sharpe.
The problem is that although it's the start of the season, Henderson's slump continues. Even considering that he missed the game with an ankle injury shortly after the end of the season, it was still disappointing.
Henderson's average of nine games this season is just 83 points, 24 rebounds and 43 assists. The shooting and three-point success rates were only 333% and 194%。
Looking at the NBA Rookie of the Year ladder announced on the NBA's official website not long ago, you can see how underperformed Henderson this season after the 2023 NBA draft picks Victor Wembanyama and Brandon Miller. 。
While Wembanyama, Oklahoma City's Chet Holmgren and New Orleans' Jordan Hawkins round out the top three, Henderson is ranked 10th and well below them on the ladder.
He is even ranked lower than Miami's Jaime Haquez Jr. (18th), Utah's Kiyant George (16th), Dallas' Derek Lively II (12th) and Washington's Bilal Koulibaly (7th).
Ultimately, if Henderson is resurrected, Portland will only speed up the rebuild. If he doesn't make the break, Portland's choice to send Lillard will be a failure.