What Went Wrong for Scoot Henderson?

Scoot Henderson had a shaky rookie season. How can Scoot bounce back with a strong sophmore campaign.

Sometimes it doesn’t always work out for a top pick. In the interest of saving time, I will keep the names short, but Anthony Bennett, Greg Oden, and Markelle Fultz are a few names that come to mind when it comes to players who didn’t quite live up to the expectations that were placed upon them as the first pick. Each one has their own set of reasons, ranging from injuries, lack of effort, and potentially even a poor scout to begin with.

Some in the NBA space already have concerns about Scoot Henderson after a rookie season I would categorize as less than stellar. Per Dunks & Threes, Henderson was the worst player in the entire NBA in Estimated Wins Added, an all-in-one, cumulative metric based on EPM to determine how many wins a player won or lost their team. This could essentially mean Scoot Henderson was the worst player in the NBA who got consistent minutes. I don’t actually think this is completely untrue, as Scoot’s night-in and out struggles did consistently hurt the already poor Trailblazers, but this doesn’t mean Henderson is lost as an NBA prospect and that the former G League Ignite star will forever be one of the worst players in the league. I still believe Henderson will make an NBA All-Star team one day, which might be a bold statement among more casual fans.

Initially, when Henderson entered the NBA I had expected him to struggle. There is not a long line of undersized lead guards coming into the league and being successful right away. Guard such as De’Aaron Fox and Darius Garland were also some of the least productive players in the association in their rookie seasons, and both have turned into players to make an all-star team. Scoot’s rookie season reminded me a lot of these two players in particular. Scoot struggled to finish due to his small size, along with not having the jump shot to force wide-open driving lanes.

Even in Scoot’s very first quarter of his young career, he got right to the rim where he needed to, but he struggled with the craft and creativity to finish around NBA-level defenders. On the first possession of his career, Scoot drives to the rim to a waiting Kawhi Leonard. Naturally, Henderson has never seen a player of the two-time Finals MVP and DPOY’s caliber when it comes to hand size and length. Henderson fails to recognize this when going up for a layup and gets blocked at the rim when attempting to finish through Leonard instead of around him with any craft.

Later in that same quarter, Scoot drives to the rim to be met by Ivica Zubac this time, and his shot is once again blocked in what may have been a goaltend.

This happened all season for Henderson. He didn’t struggle to get to the rim or blow by his initial defender, but he often was sped up when around the rim. This led to him often being forced into poor layup angles and finishing paths, which forces down his finishing rate. Henderson was a relatively poor finisher at the rim, finishing at a rate of just 50%, compared to the aforementioned De’Aaron Fox finishing 72% last season for comparison. Scoot has been a quality finisher at every stop in his career, and I anticipate with time his results will improve at the rim.

For someone to become a truly productive scorer, they have to possess a mid-range jump shot. Contrary to popular belief the mid-range shot is not dead as a scoring option. The “death” of the mid-range jumper is simply players who were not effective at such shot taking it anymore. In short, no more Kendrick Perkins spot up 20 footers. Scorers like Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Kawhi Leonard, and Anthony Edwards still excel at taking and making mid-range shots.

An often-forgotten part of this shot distance is floaters. Henderson could not take floaters. He either rushed the shot to an unnecessary degree, or slowed down too much and took a mid-range shot that would become contested. Here is a play where Henderson completely rushed the floater, got off balance, and instead of taking a wide-open look fell into the offensive player.

Henderson has to clean these kinds of plays up, and I think he will. There is nothing to suggest Henderson does not have the level of work ethic and skill floor required to improve as a creator on these kinds of shots. I am excited not only for this season but the coming seasons for Henderson, as these next two years are the most important in a young guard’s development.