The Portland Trail Blazers have added a very intriguing and potential-laden player to their roster via the 2023 NBA Draft.
With the No. 3 pick, they took Scoot Henderson, a point guard who spent this past season with the G League Ignite.
That selection has created an interesting dilemma, as the Blazers are now loaded in the backcourt with Henderson, Damian Lillard, Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe.
Portland backcourt depth:
Damian Lillard
Scoot Henderson
Anfernee Simons
Shaedon SharpeDeep. pic.twitter.com/YHFCnIyGQi
— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 23, 2023
Could drafting Henderson could be a prelude or precursor to a Lillard trade?
Lillard has certainly been mentioned in trade rumors lately, and the team most linked to him is the Miami Heat, who just reached the NBA Finals for the second time in four seasons, only to lose to the Denver Nuggets.
He is one of the best guards in the business, both in terms of scoring and facilitating, and he could be just what Miami needs to win it all.
He certainly deserves a real shot at a world championship, and it has become clear that he won’t get that shot in Portland, a team that has gotten to the Western Conference Finals just once since 2000.
Henderson is a very explosive true point guard, and at 6-foot-2, his athleticism has been compared to that of Russell Westbrook and Ja Morant.
He isn’t a good 3-point shooter, but he can both score and facilitate, and he averaged 16.5 points and 6.5 assists a game in the G League this past season.
If Lillard does indeed end up getting traded soon, the Blazers will have a very nice starting backcourt in Henderson and Simons to build around right away.
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