Scoot Henderson Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Reaction To Jrue Holiday-Anfernee Simons Trade

June 24th, 2025 at 8:08pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Celtics pulled off a tremendous swap by not only getting off of Jrue Holiday‘s contract but also getting draft capital in return, John Hollinger of The Athletic opines.

Holiday has three years and $104.4MM left on his deal and it was fair to wonder whether the Celtics would have to attach a first-round pick or two to deal him, Hollinger writes. Instead, they’ll receive Anfernee Simons and two second-rounders from the Trail Blazers.

Boston could extend Simons’ deal — he’s got one year left on his contract, Hollinger notes. It’s also quite possible Simons could be flipped for a player with a lower cap hit as Boston looks to continue shedding salary. The Celtics reached an agreement on another cost-cutting deal on Tuesday, dealing Kristaps Porzingis to the Hawks in a three-team deal that will drop them under the second tax apron.

On the flip side, Hollinger believes this is a baffling move for Portland. The Blazers could have spent another year acquiring young talent and developing players. Instead, they’re trading one of their key sources of offense and handing the point guard duties to Scoot Henderson, who has struggled through his first two seasons.

Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian believes top executive Joe Cronin and coach Chauncy Billups are now in a must-win situation with an ownership change looming (Twitter link). The acquisition of Holiday could help the team reach the postseason and his long-term contract is irrelevant to the current regime, Fentress suggests, since Cronin and Billups might not survive an ownership change if the franchise endures another losing campaign.

The Trail Blazers don’t view themselves as a rebuilding team anymore, according to Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Substack link), who notes that making the postseason was a stated goal when Cronin and Billups received contract extensions after the team won 23 of its last 41 games.

According to Highkin, Holiday is the type of player that Billups has pined for since Damian Lillard was dealt. Holiday is not only a tough, defensive-minded guard but will provide much needed leadership in the locker room.

Highkin also points out that Cronin effectively picked Henderson over Lillard two years ago by drafting him with the No. 3 overall pick and is now choosing Henderson over Simons. Additionally, Highkin believes Holiday will be more willing to come off the bench behind Henderson than Simons would have been during his walk year, though Fentress (Twitter link) expects Holiday to end up in the starting lineup.

Finally, it’s worth noting that Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com has a source who claims Holiday is upset about being sent to Portland.

“If he winds up staying there, I’m sure he’ll be the professional he’s always been and make a positive contribution,” that source told Bulpett. “But he’s not happy with this deal. I’ll be surprised if Portland doesn’t move him on if they can, because right now he does not want to go there. I’m sure if he has to go to Portland, he’ll end up going and it’ll be OK, but right now they want to be somewhere else. But with that contract, it’s not going to be that easy.”

The idea that the Blazers would give up multiple draft picks to acquire Holiday only to try to trade him to another team doesn’t really pass the smell test, nor does it align with the reporting in the past 24 hours. We’ll see if any other reports corroborate the claim that Holiday is unhappy about the deal, but for now, the comments from Bulpett’s source can probably be taken with a grain of salt.

Draft Notes: Trail Blazers, Mock, Coward, Nets, More

May 29th, 2025 at 7:21pm CST by Rory Maher

The Trail Blazers hosted a pre-draft workout on Thursday with six high-level prospects, writes Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (subscriber link).

Michigan State guard Jase Richardson (No. 14 on ESPN’s big board), Illinois wing Will Riley (No. 15), Georgia forward/center Asa Newell (No. 19), UConn wing Liam McNeeley (No. 21) and Saint Joseph’s forward Rasheer Fleming (No. 28) are all potential first-round picks, while Chinese center Hansen Yang — a combine standout — is viewed as a possible second-rounder, coming in at No. 67 on ESPN’s list.

As Highkin notes, Portland currently controls one pick in June’s draft, No. 11 overall. The team’s previous workouts mainly focused on less heralded players, but some of today’s group could be in contention for the lottery selection.

Richardson, who says he emulates Mike Conley, is out to prove he can orchestrate an NBA offense.

“There are a lot of questions about what position I can play at the next level,” Richardson said. “Playing at Michigan State, I was a two, because coach [Tom Izzo] wanted me to score. But I want to show teams I’m a point guard and I can facilitate.”

In addition to Portland’s front office and coaches, three players on the current roster — Scoot Henderson, Justin Minaya and Jabari Walker — also attended Thursday’s workout. According to Highkin, Newell thinks he’d fit in well with the Blazers.

“They like to [push] the pace a lot with Scoot and [Donovan] Clingan,” Newell said. “He cleans up anything down low. I think I’d be a plug-and-play player.”

Here are a few more notes related to June’s draft:

Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report updated his mock draft following Wednesday’s deadline for early entrants to withdraw in order to their NCAA eligibility. Wasserman, who has the Trail Blazers selecting Newell at No. 11, says Washington State forward Cedric Coward appears to be one of the big winners of the pre-draft process, with one scout comparing his rise to that of Jalen Williams, who went No. 12 overall in 2022. Coward goes No. 14 to San Antonio in Wasserman’s mock.
Freshman guard Tahaad Pettiford was voted by four of his peers as the “most underrated” prospect in the 2025 class, according to ESPN, but he wound up withdrawing and returning to Auburn prior to yesterday’s deadline. Arizona forward Carter Bryant (three votes) and North Carolina guard/forward Drake Powell (two) also received multiple votes. “Carter Bryant is super underrated,” Newell told ESPN. “I just feel like his game translates to the NBA really well. He’s got the size, he’s got the touch, he’s got the 3-point ability. And seeing him, he can definitely be a versatile defender.”
The Nets held a pre-draft workout on Thursday with six prospects, including Colorado State wing Nique Clifford and Tennessee guards Chaz Lanier and Jahmai Mashack, reports Brian Lewis of The New York Post (via Twitter). According to Lewis, the Nets — who control a league-high five picks (all in the top 35) — also have an upcoming workout scheduled with Duke wing Kon Knueppel (Twitter link). Knueppell (No. 8 on ESPN’s board) and Clifford (No. 24) are projected first-round picks, while sharpshooter Lanier (No. 40) is viewed as a second-rounder.

Blazers Notes: Avdija, Ownership, No. 11, Henderson

May 17th, 2025 at 3:58pm CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers‘ 2024 trade for Deni Avdija has been a major win for the team so far, as the forward enjoyed a breakout 2024/25 season and established himself as perhaps Portland’s most valuable player, says Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian.

Avdija’s contract, which will pay him $39.4MM over the next three seasons, has turned into one of the NBA’s most team-friendly deals, especially given the star potential he flashed at times this past year. As Fentress writes, the 24-year-old could be in the All-Star conversation next season if he’s able to come anywhere close to matching the 24.9 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game (on .508/.431/.816 shooting) he posted during his final 16 appearances in March and April.

Avdija has taken on a leadership role on a Blazers team featuring several core players who are younger than him, telling reporters at the end of the season that he “likes to be an example” with his work ethic. His goal heading into next season is to make more of an impact on the other end of the court.

“The next step for me is to become a great two-way player,” he said, per Fentress. “Be more involved on the defensive end.”

Here’s more on the Blazers:

Many fans in Portland have been waiting since Paul Allen‘s death in 2018 for the franchise to be sold, according to Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Substack link), who notes those fans are about to get their wish. The question now is whether a new ownership group will really improve the team’s fortunes, given that ownership changes aren’t always for the best, as Highkin outlines, citing a few NBA examples.
In a separate Substack article, Highkin considers the Blazers’ options with the No. 11 pick in this year’s draft, acknowledging that it’s still early to get a sense of which prospects Portland might like most at that spot. The team’s inclusion of last year’s No. 14 pick in a deal for Avdija shows the front office is comfortable trading a lottery pick for a more established player, Highkin writes, though he also points out that Avdija was someone the front office targeted for a while and there’s no guarantee there will be a similar fit out there this year.
Within an explanation of why teams in the back half of the lottery are unlikely to target point guards in the draft, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic cites sources “around the Blazers” who say they’re pleased with the development Scoot Henderson made in the second half of 2024/25. Henderson hasn’t had the sort of impact that many evaluators expected in his first two NBA seasons, but he averaged a solid 14.2 points and 5.2 assists per game on .434/.384/.766 shooting in his final 35 games this year, with Portland going 19-16 during that stretch.

Trail Blazers Parting Ways With Three Assistant Coaches

April 30th, 2025 at 12:03pm CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers signed head coach Chauncey Billups to a multiyear extension earlier this month, but they won’t be retaining all of his assistant coaches.

According to Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian, Portland has opted against renewing the contracts of assistants Roy Rogers, Chris Fleming, and Ryan Gomes.

Rogers was the longest-tenured assistant of the bunch, having been part of the initial coaching staff following Billups’ hiring in 2021. Rogers, who oversaw the defense, has been on NBA coaching staffs for the better part of two decades. Before arriving in Portland, he also served as an assistant for the Nets, Celtics, Pistons, Wizards, Rockets, Bulls, and Clippers.

Fleming, who previously worked as an assistant for the Nuggets, Nets, and Bulls and was a head coach in Germany, just joined the Trail Blazers a year ago. As Fentress details, Fleming put in plenty of work with second-year guard Scoot Henderson and helped coordinate the club’s offense.

Gomes, a former NBA player, had worked for the Blazers as a player development coach for the last two seasons.

The Blazers are continuing to evaluate their staff and could make additional changes, according to Fentress, who hears from a source that replacements for the departing assistants have not yet been identified. With a multiyear extension in hand, Billups figures to have a major hand in selecting those replacements.

Trail Blazers Notes: Henderson, Clingan, Billups, Offseason

April 16th, 2025 at 9:54pm CST by Arthur Hill

Scoot Henderson looked more like a high lottery pick in his second NBA season than he did as a rookie, writes Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. The No. 3 selection in the 2023 draft improved his shooting numbers to 41.9% from the field and 35.4% from three-point range and got to play in some significant games as the Trail Blazers remained in play-in contention late in the season.

“I’d say this year, I guess the game kind of slowed down,” Henderson said. “Things like that only come from playing and experiencing the NBA in general … I think I had more fun.”

Fentress adds that Henderson plans to spend the offseason working on his technique in all parts of the game, with an emphasis on learning how to be a better shot creator for himself and his teammates and finishing near the basket with his left hand. His confidence is buoyed by Portland’s success, as the team went 23-18 over the second half of the season and won 10 of 11 games at one point.

“I kind of liked seeing a little bit of who we are,” he added. “We kind of got our swag there, and when we get our swag like that, it’s tough to stop.”

There’s more from Portland:

Rookie Donovan Clingan began to blossom when starting center Deandre Ayton suffered a season-ending calf injury in early February, Fentress states in a separate story. Clingan started getting consistent playing time and responded by averaging 8.8 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game for the rest of the season. “It was great to see DC out there get some good bump,” Ayton said. “Knowing that he’s a two-time national championship guy, I know he wasn’t used to coming off the bench. So, just having the half of the season, starting, you could definitely see the confidence build up. And you saw his body change a little bit, him getting into better shape.”
In another piece, Fentress shares the details of the contract extension head coach Chauncey Billups received last week. League sources tell Fentress that the Blazers picked up the fifth-year option on Billups’ current deal and added two more seasons, extending it through 2027/28. The new contract is fully guaranteed, Fentress adds, and Billups received a raise, although the amount wasn’t disclosed. Sources tell Fentress that Billups earned about $4.7MM this season.
The Blazers should stick to their long-term plan and not get caught up in this season’s success, contends Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (subscription required). He compares the situation to the 2016 offseason when Portland invested heavily in free agents after Damian Lillard led the team to an unexpected fifth seed and a first-round playoff victory.

Blazers Notes: Cronin, Billups, Avdija, Future

April 14th, 2025 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

As Jason Quick of The Athletic writes, it’s rare for a 36-win team to reward its general manager and head coach with contract extensions like the Trail Blazers have done this month with Joe Cronin and Chauncey Billups.

However, Portland’s record this season was its best since 2020/21 and the team took a real step forward, with young players like Shaedon Sharpe, Scoot Henderson, and Donovan Clingan showing improvement while Deni Avdija enjoyed a breakout year and Toumani Camara established himself as one of the NBA’s best perimeter defenders. As Quick relays, Cronin believes the team is in position to start targeting specific positions and skills instead of just stockpiling talent.

“As a front office, we don’t feel that pressure to take swing after swing to try and hit on the next up-and-coming guy,” the GM explained. “We are starting to feel really comfortable with our talent base that we can be more diligent about adding specific types of guys.”

While the Blazers have a promising core of young talent, it’s unclear if any of the players currently on the roster will develop into the kind of All-Star capable of leading a contender. Cronin and Billups suggested they aren’t worried about the fact that a franchise player has yet to emerge.

“There’s a lot of talent on this roster, and I wouldn’t put ceilings on a lot of these guys,” Cronin said, per Quick. “There is still a lot of time and talent that can be maximized. So these guys … I wouldn’t write them off to becoming star-level guys.”

“It’s true you need to have top-flight guys, but to me, we are raising that, we are growing that,” Billups added. “I look at Oklahoma City, they traded for Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander), but he wasn’t a star yet. Now he’s probably going to be the MVP. Joker (Nikola Jokic) wasn’t a star when he got to Denver. They raised him into that. Giannis (Antetokounmpo) wasn’t a star when he got to Milwaukee. They raised him into that. That’s where I think we are trying to go … Deni, Shaedon, Scoot, Ant (Anfernee Simons) … We are raising those guys.”

Here’s more out of Portland:

Noting that he heard “a lot of chatter” about the possibility of Billups being the top target in the Suns‘ upcoming head coaching search, Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Twitter link) suggests that may have been part of the reason why the Blazers wanted to get an extension done with Billups before the season ended.
Avdija admitted during his end-of-season media session that it was “hard to adjust” last fall after being traded from Washington to Portland but that he “didn’t look back” once he got comfortable with his new team, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops relays. The forward’s numbers reflect that — he averaged just 9.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game with a .346/.233/.813 shooting line in his first 13 outings, then posted 18.6 PPG, 7.6 RPG, and 4.1 APG on .495/.385/.775 shooting in 59 games after that, including 23.3 PPG, 9.7 RPG, and 5.2 APG on .508/.417/.782 shooting in 20 post-All-Star appearances.
“The future is super bright,” Avdija said of the Blazers (per Eurohoops). “I love playing with this team. We’re young. We’re exciting. We have a lot of talent.” The 24-year-old added that he plans to suit up for Israel during the 2025 EuroBasket tournament.
While the Blazers took positive steps forward this season, they still have a long way to go before they can be considered a reliable playoff-caliber club, opines Bill Oram of The Oregonian. “I think that’s a reasonable expectation,” Cronin said when Oram asked him about making the playoffs next season. “Assuming our guys keep getting better, assuming we do our jobs and keep adding talent to this roster. I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be competitive in that regard.”

Northwest Notes: Gobert, Watson, Henderson, Hartenstein

March 30th, 2025 at 5:43pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Which team does Rudy Gobert believe is Minnesota’s toughest foe? The Timberwolves, he told Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.

“We are our biggest opponent,” Gobert said. “We get a little complacent. When people start saying we’re good and when the odds are with us, that’s when we’re not as a good.”

As the postseason approaches, Gobert says his team’s success is predicated on preparation.

“We’ve been through it for the last few years, so by now we know that it’s just about us, our approach,” Gobert said. “It doesn’t just start at the tip-off of the game. It starts right now, how we recover, the work that we put in tomorrow. We all know the things we need to do to be at our best and try to be consistent.”

We have more from the Northwest Division:

Peyton Watson calls himself a gamer. The Nuggets wing is embracing the challenge of being a defensive stopper, he told Luca Evans of The Denver Post. “I mean, I think just as – about as confident as any guy in the league right now,” Watson said. “I think that I have the ability, on a night-to-night basis, to slow a lot of guys down and cut their water off. And I’m just trying to get better at doing that as consistently as possible.”
Portland guard Scoot Henderson is in the NBA’s concussion protocol, according to the team’s PR department (Twitter link). He was among several Trail Blazers regulars who didn’t play against the Knicks on Sunday.
Thunder big man Isaiah Hartenstein missed the second half of their win over Indiana on Saturday with left hip soreness, according to Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman. Hartenstein played 14 minutes, scoring four points. He recorded double-doubles in five of the previous six games. The veteran center is listed as questionable to play on Monday against Chicago, Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman tweets.

Northwest Notes: SGA, Filipowski, McDaniels, Henderson, Billups

March 6th, 2025 at 8:14pm CST by Earnest Marshall

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is fresh off his fourth 50-point game in the past seven weeks and currently appears to be the favorite for the league’s Most Valuable Player award. As Fred Katz of The Athletic writes, an unmatched motor and a strong summertime workout routine helped Gilgeous-Alexander take what used to be an unconventional route to superstardom (none of the top three presumed MVP vote-earners were top-10 picks).

“He’s ahead of his time,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “Intuitively, he’s where the scientific research is, which is you wanna be making decisions. You want randomness in your workouts. You want variability. You want interweaving in the workout. He kinda does that naturally.”

Gilgeous-Alexander is breaking through the trend of high-usage players seeing efficiency taper off. His 64.5% true shooting percentage and 34.6% usage percentage are both career highs and lead most guards in the league.

“It’s like LeBron [James] in his prime, Giannis [Antetokounmpo], the speed of [Ja] Morant, the speed and power of [Russell] Westbrook; he’s a great athlete, but he’s not an overpowering athlete, where those guys are,” Daigneault said. “And yet, he gets to the same places on the floor as they do. And to me, that says it all about the skill.”

We have more from the Northwest Division:

Jazz rookie big man Kyle Filipowski is coming off two of the best games of his career, scoring 25 points on Monday and going for 23 and 13 rebounds on Wednesday. Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune explores whether Filipowski is better suited to be playing the four or the five for the Jazz moving forward. Larsen opines that, while Filipowski isn’t the strongest interior defender, he’s probably best suited for the center position. “The responsibility between a four and a three on offense sometimes [doesn’t differ] very much,” head coach Will Hardy said. “The responsibilities between four and five are very different, and so Flip has had to deal with a lot of change throughout the season … He deserves a lot of credit, because that’s a hard thing. We have a lot of guys who are trying to learn their responsibilities at one position, and Flip’s doing it at two.”
Jaden McDaniels offensive emergence is key to the Timberwolves‘ playoff push, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. In his last 12 games, McDaniels has averaged 19.2 points and 3.0 assists per game — in his first 52 games, he put up just 11.0 PPG and 1.7 APG. The forward’s three-point volume has also gone up — he launched a season-high nine outside attempts on Wednesday. He’s also on a different level now as a rebounder than he ever has been. “He can do a lot of different things, and he works his butt off,” teammate Julius Randle said. “We need him to play with that confidence because it gives us a whole different level as a team.”
Scoot Henderson is continuing to emerge as a more consistent player, but Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Substack link) doesn’t see the former No. 3 overall pick returning to the starting lineup soon. Because the Trail Blazers are still in contention for a play-in spot, a shake-up might not make sense at this juncture. If Portland is eliminated, the club may switch things up.
In the same article, Highkin explores the Trail Blazers‘ three options with Chauncey Billups this summer. Billups has shown he’s grown as a coach with Portland’s turnaround, Highkin writes, so they could either pick up the fifth-year option he has for next season, sign him to an extension, or mutually allow him to look for other opportunities.

Blazers Notes: Henderson, Sharpe, Camara, Play-In

February 20th, 2025 at 8:10am CST by Luke Adams

Scoot Henderson‘s NBA career got off to a shaky start in 2023/24. As fellow top-three picks Victor Wembanyama and Brandon Miller shone, the Trail Blazers guard shot only 38.5% from the field as a rookie, making 32.5% of his three-pointers and turning the ball over 3.4 times in just 28.5 minutes per game.

That inconsistent play carried over to the start of his second season, but Henderson has been playing the best basketball of his young professional career since Christmas. The 21-year-old has averaged 13.8 points and 5.7 assists per game with a .475/.405/.798 shooting line in his past 25 outings, and Portland had a winning record in those games.

Speaking to Jason Quick of The Athletic, head coach Chauncey Billups referred to last season as a “humbling year” for Henderson, but said the team remained confident in the young guard’s ability to find his footing.

“He didn’t realize how hard it is to be good in the NBA and to do it every night,” Billups said. “He’d have a good game, but then, dang, here comes De’Aaron Fox tomorrow. Here comes Steph Curry on Thursday, then on to Trae Young. That’s one of the big surprises for a young guy.

“… I mean, everybody … I think (bust) came across their mind at some point. Not me. Not our staff. Because we live with him. We see the inside. We see what’s inside of him.”

For his part, Henderson says he never doubted his ability to eventually succeed in the NBA, but he admits he was frustrated it wasn’t happening right away.

“I’m blessed with the talent, and I did all the work, but I didn’t have anything to show for it,” Henderson said, per Quick. “That’s where I was disappointed.”

Here’s more on the Blazers:

In an in-depth feature story, Robert Ohman of Willamette Week explores the path taken to the NBA by Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe – the first player of note to emerge from the “hockey town” of London, Ontario – and explores the likelihood of the 21-year-old evolving into a star.
Over at The Oregonian, Aaron Fentress has published a similar two-part feature on Toumani Camara‘s NBA journey, from his early life in Belgium to the trade that sent him from Phoenix to Portland before his NBA debut to his emergence as a defensive ace for the Blazers. Camara was a 52nd overall pick and was viewed as a relative afterthought in a three-team blockbuster that also included Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday, and Deandre Ayton, but the young forward has turned heads with his play on defense. “His ascension has been amazing in a short amount of time,” Billups said.
A three-game losing streak prior to the All-Star break has left the Trail Blazers five games back of the Warriors for the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference, but the club hasn’t given up on the idea of qualifying for the play-in tournament, as Fentress writes for The Oregonian. Starting forward Deni Avdija said that a stretch of 10 wins in 11 games in January and February gave the Blazers confidence that they’re capable of making a second-half run. “We have a chance to make the play-in, and we’re all in it,” Avdija said. “We’re preparing. We’re doing the best we can, and can’t wait to go back on the court.”

Northwest Notes: Daigneault, Edwards, Camara, Henderson

February 16th, 2025 at 8:39pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mark Daigneault made a meteoric rise from an assistant on Billy Donovan‘s staff at the University of Florida to being a head coach at the All-Star Game. The Athletic’s Anthony Slater takes a deep dive into the Thunder coach’s career, noting that his former boss is proud of his accomplishments.

“It’s crazy how life works,” Donovan said. “I remember when he was sitting there, and we were having camp (at Florida), and he’s waiting to meet me. He’s 24, 25 years old, just wants a job, and he’s willing to work for free. And if you just said, ‘Hey, you’re going to be an NBA head coach and coaching the All-Star game.’ Nobody would’ve believed that, right?

“So, I just think it speaks to him and the people in Oklahoma City and the players and his staff. I’m just really happy for him because he’s a great guy.”

We have more from the Northwest Division:

Anthony Edwards has improved his three-point shot this season and now he’s using that threat to make him even more effective driving to the basket, Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune notes. After averaging 2.4 free-throw attempts per game in December, Edwards took an average of 8.1 free throws in January and 11 per game in February. The Timberwolves star averaged just 20.5 points per game in December, but pushed that figure to 30.3 in January. In six February games, he’s averaging 34.3 PPG.
Toumani Camara was included in a three-team blockbuster in 2023, moving from Phoenix to Portland ahead of his rookie season. He never got a chance to play for the Suns but he feels he would have thrived there, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets. Camara is averaging 10.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per game and has emerged as a defensive ace in his second season with the Trail Blazers. “I feel like the month I spent in Phoenix, a lot of people appreciated my game and stuff like that,” Camara said. “I was pretty confident in the space and environment I was in. I feel like the month I spent in Phoenix, a lot of people appreciated my game and stuff like that. I was pretty confident in the space and environment I was in.”
Camara and Scoot Henderson have become the best of friends, according to Jason Quick of The Athletic, and the Trail Blazers teammates have lofty goals. “Me and Tou, we have told each other: ‘We are going to do this. We are going to be great together … and we are going to do it here, in Portland,’” Henderson said. “We haven’t told anyone, but we have those conversations.” Henderson, the No. 3 pick of the 2023 draft, has mainly come off the bench this season. He’s averaging 12.4 points and 5.3 assists in 26.5 minutes per game.