Portland Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson enters the 2023-24 season as one of the favorites to win NBA Rookie of the Year, but the third pick believes he should be the front-runner.
Henderson was viewed as one of the top prospects after dazzling with the G League Ignite. He seemingly kept that momentum going into the NBA Summer League after a dominating debut on July 7, producing 15 points, six assists and five rebounds against the Houston Rockets.
His stay in the summer league was cut short due to a shoulder injury but the 19-year-old is expected to be ready for the start of training camp in October. Between his ability and mindset entering the year, Henderson is confident in his chance to win the award.
“My goal is to win Rookie of the Year and I will win Rookie of the Year,” Henderson told Playmaker. “That’s just a mindset of manifestation that I kind of grew. I never doubted myself. Making sure I’m always playing good and telling myself I’m going to have a great rookie season. I’m not saying I want to have a great rookie season. I’m going to have a great rookie season; I’m going to have a great career, I will have a great career. (I’m) making sure that is always in past tense because it happened.”
Henderson has the third-best odds (plus-400) of winning Rookie of the Year, trailing only Chet Holmgren (plus-350) and Victor Wembanyama (minus-130). With the future of Damian Lillard in question, Henderson could be poised for a strong season.
The 6-foot-2 guard is expected to play a large role next season and could be counted on, even more, depending on the status of Lillard. For that reason, Henderson was recently projected to be one of the top point guards in the NBA by HoopsHype.
Given his skill set and potential to log significant minutes, Henderson appears to be poised for a productive rookie campaign and should be in the running to take home some awards.
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