When Ja Morant went down last week with a hamstring injury, the expectation was that Jrue Holiday would enter the Trail Blazers’ starting lineup, but head coach Micah Nori instead inserted Scoot Henderson in Morant’s place, citing a need to keep Holiday’s minutes in check. It’s a huge opportunity for Henderson, who didn’t sign a rookie scale extension ahead of last month’s deadline and will now be eligible for restricted free agency during the 2027 offseason.
The Blazers had high hopes for the former G League Ignite star when they drafted him third overall in 2023, but after three years plagued by injuries and inconsistency, Henderson’s place in the team’s long-term plans appears more tenuous. Being part of the starting lineup for the next several weeks should give him the chance to show he’s still capable of being Portland’s point guard of the future, says Jason Quick of The Athletic.
Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Substack link) and Joe Freeman of The Oregonian cover similar ground in stories of their own, with Highkin referring to it as “sink-or-swim” time for Henderson and noting that Nori wants the fourth-year guard to keep things simple on offense and stop thinking so much. Freeman, meanwhile, writes that the Blazers’ head coach conveyed to Henderson that the team believes in him and wants him to focus on playing “the right way.”
“Just keep doing what you’re doing,” Nori said of his message to the point guard. “We need you to guard your butt off on defense. We don’t care how many shots you miss … just continue to play the right way. Go until they stop you. And when they stop you, pass the ball.
“… There’s no one harder on Scoot than Scoot himself. So it’s almost like, I don’t want him to dwell on the negative. I want him to look at the positive. And the other thing is, I don’t want him to overthink and try to be an orchestrator. I want Scoot to be Scoot. Just play.”
We have more from around the Northwest:
- Missing three starters (Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgrenand Cason Wallace) due to major injuries, the Thunder dropped two consecutive games last week after winning their first four, but veteran big man Isaiah Hartenstein suggested on Monday the team was ready to move forward after processing those injuries, per Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “I’m not going to lie: it’s a human part to it,” Hartenstein said. “I think we lose that many guys and don’t have the depth that we kind of had in those years past. … Those two games did kind of take a toll a little bit. But I think that we’re just ready to move on, and I’m excited for what we can keep improving on. I’m excited to be going forward.” Shortly after Hartenstein made those comments, Oklahoma City snapped its brief losing streak with a 117-112 win over Cleveland, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring a season-high 43 points.
- Nuggets star Nikola Jokic hasn’t looked like his usual self so far this fall, with his scoring (22.0 PPG) and shooting (.472 FG%; .226 3PT%) down and his turnovers (3.8 per game) up. Mark Kiszla expresses some concern about Jokic’s slow start in a pair of stories for The Denver Gazette, while Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (subscription required) points out that the team is losing Jokic’s minutes through six games and has just a 112.9 offensive rating when he’s on the floor. That figure was 126.1 last season and 125.6 in 2024/25.
- Nuggets head coach David Adelman spoke to Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette about adding his sister Kathy Adelman to his coaching staff as a special assistant. “Away from the court, obviously, we’re family, but she’s a hell of a coach,” David said. “… She should be coaching in college or professionally. She’s that good. We’re lucky to have her.”