The Portland Trail Blazers announced their first “bad news” of the season this week, alerting the world to a Scoot Henderson hamstring tear, suffered in pre-camp scrimmages. While I’ve not been the point guard’s biggest fan, I genuinely want the former G League Ignite standout to thrive.
His four-to-eight-week convalescence is disappointing, but Scoot should return to the court with confidence and energy before Thanksgiving. The earlier the better for Henderson, who needs a productive 2025-26 campaign
before he becomes eligible for an extension and before Damian Lillard returns to the court 12 month from now.
For the Blazers, they’ll need alternative sources of scoring and playmaking as they hope to get the season off to a positive start.
Regardless of whether Henderson was going to start, this team was always going to be struggling for ball handling and creation. Those needs just become a little more dire. But with no standout point guard waiting in the wings — outside of Damian Lillard — it appears the Blazers are going to have to find contributions by committee.
There are names that can step into the breach but if they’re going to get through this period relatively unscathed, it’s going to be with multiple names contributing.
Who should we be looking at?
Jrue Holiday
We’re going to find out sooner than we thought whether Holiday’s downturn in production with the Boston Celtics was because of age or role. The veteran will be the only healthy recognized point guard in the Blazers rotation and will need to perform as such.
During his two years with the Celtics, Holiday rarely served as a true point guard, recording the lowest usage of his career, never rising above 16.3 percent. Last season, he ranked 54th among guards in assist rate, diming on 17.4 percent of teammate makes. That was fine for a Boston club overendowed with creation thanks to Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Payton Pritchard.
The Blazers, on the other hand, will need the ball in Holiday’s hands, likely at a rate akin to his last year with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2022-23. That season, his usage sat at 25.0 percent, ranking 16th in assist rate among guards and delivering on 32.0 percent of teammate makes.
If he can rediscover that form at age 35 the Blazers should be OK, but Holiday can’t stay on the court 48 minutes a night. He needs help.
Deni Avdija
The Israeli proved himself as a facilitator from the larger positions last season, ranking 14th in assist rate among forwards, diming on 19.4 percent of teammate makes on 23.2 percent usage. At 6’9”, Avdija’s tight handle and ability to grab and go make him a threat to score or pass, particularly in transition. But he’s no slouch in the half court either.
This season will be the 24-year-old’s best and biggest stage to show he can be a multi-faceted two-way player on a team actually hoping to win games. He may have it in him to be an All Star and being able to shoulder some of Henderson’s role on top of his own, should go a long way to prove he’s capable.
Avdija doesn’t need to be a point guard but being able to create for himself and serve as a reliable secondary facilitator will mean a lot for this team and his standing across the league.
Shaedon Sharpe
Sharpe was always going to play big minutes this season. With Henderson out, his chances of both starting and having the ball in hands more increases, though playing the Canadian as a full time point guard probably isn’t advisable.
It would obviously be beneficial for him to be more involved in the offense, especially if his shot isn’t falling, but Sharpe is and should be played as a wing who can score at all three levels and playing above-average defense. Given his inconsistent play to date, I’m wary of putting too much on the former seventh overall pick’s plate.
He’ll no doubt be eager to show out as he approaches restricted free agency next summer but his first priority should be playing his role, especially given the fact that’s he’s yet to show he can run an offense. Last season, he ranked 70th among combo guards in assist rate, contributing on 13.9 percent of teammate makes.
Blake Wesley
Wesley probably didn’t expect to see many minutes early on. But as does often occur, the so-called insurance policy will be relied upon to serve back-up to Holiday for stetches. While his assist rate wasn’t awful last season with the San Antonio Spurs, ranking 48th among combo guards, it was his turnover rate that was a concern, giving the ball up 17.6 percent of the time.
Caleb Love
The two-way player might see a little extra time but still likely sits behind Wesley in the pecking order. Any increase in minutes he might see because of Henderson’s injury is likely negligible unless he surprises out the gate.
Jerami Grant
With Henderson out, Grant is almost assured a starting role. Outside of that, I doubt the veteran forward is dramatically impacted.
Conclusion
Jrue Holiday and Deni Avdija will be the biggest beneficiaries from Scoot Henderson’s short-term absence. But this team will need to also compensate by committee.
Holiday was already in line as the Blazers starter at point guard, but with Henderson out he’ll be leaned on for a larger role. Avdija is hopefully a star on the rise. If he’s able to shoulder some of the facilitating responsibilities while Henderson is convalescing, it’ll be anther sign he is destined for bigger things.
Shaedon Sharpe will no doubt have a larger role in the offense but he’ll need to focus on proving himself as a defensive-minded, three-level scoring wing first.
Blake Wesley and Caleb Love will be called upon to do more than what they would have initially but it’ll be interesting to see how much. The Blazers have enough to cope without Henderson, but I’m curious to see how coach Chauncey Billups goes about it.
