Although Scoot Henderson's ROTY Chances Are Slim, His All-Rookie Team Odds Are On The Rise

The Portland Trail Blazers' prized acquisition of the 2023 offseason, rookie point guard Scoot Henderson, was expected to pour in buckets with a rebuilding club looking forward to a less-starry 2024 NBA draft lottery class. 

Selected with the third pick in the 2023 draft after two years of seasoning with the G League Ignite, the 6'3" point guard was expected to be Damian Lillard's heir apparent in the pantheon of quality Rip City royals.

Instead, Henderson stumbled out of the gate. He sprained his right ankle just a few weeks after making his NBA debut, and subsequently missed nine games in November. He has been shifted between starting and reserve roles by Chauncey Billups, and watched as he's been lapped in Rookie of the Year consideration by San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren, Charlotte Hornets small forward Brandon Miller (controversially selected ahead of Henderson with the second pick), and even Miami Heat small forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., who was drafted beyond the lottery out of UCLA.

That said, Henderson has looked a bit better of late. Across his last five games, he's averaging 17.6 points on .413/.333.935 shooting splits, 5.6 assists (against 2.4 turnovers) and three rebounds. Those are all improvements over his middling overall season stats of 12.9 points on a .375/.310/.818 slash line, 4.7 assists and three rebounds.

Assuming he can maintain this level of production down the season's home stretch, even though he's on a terrible team, he has a pretty good shot of making at least an All-Rookie Team.