Scoot Henderson, Trail Blazers eager to start their journey: ‘It’s a new era for a reason’

PORTLAND, Ore. — For some reason, the questions still came. Questions about the former guy, the legend now departed, the guy who had held court at these media days for the past 11 seasons. The questions were asked to general manager Joe Cronin … head coach Chauncey Billups … and to the longest-tenured player in Portland, Anfernee Simons. But there was one person who handled the questions differently from anybody else, and it was his response that I think this entire franchise needs to embrace. Immediately.

It came near the end of the Trail Blazers media day when a reporter began a question about the pressure of replacing Damian Lillard. Politely, his voice interrupted her.

“Scoot Henderson,” the rookie said.

Reporters chuckled uncomfortably as she resumed her question. Straight-faced and serious, Henderson listened. Then, after again proclaiming to only be himself, he delivered the line of the day, the line that should be adopted by this franchise, this team, this fanbase.

“I’m not trying to be the new Dame,” Henderson said. “It’s a new era for a reason.”

It’s a new era for a reason. Phew. I don’t know about you, but that line hit me in the feels because it’s so bold, so confident and so … true.

Yes, it was classy for Cronin to acknowledge Lillard’s 11 seasons of excellence. And yes it was touching to hear Billups and Simons talk about what Lillard meant to the Blazers. But the sooner everyone makes this season less about losing Lillard and more about what is here, the quicker this franchise is going to return to relevancy.

It’s a new era for a reason. In fact, here are five of them:

Does Portland have the best center rotation in the NBA?

The biggest change to the Blazers will be at center, where Billups thinks newcomers Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams III will not only change the way Portland plays but also vault Portland in a different echelon.

“We — by far — have the most athletic two fives as a combo in the league,” Billups said. “And teams will understand that when they play against us, on both sides of the floor.”

Near the end of his first season in Portland, Billups lamented to me about how other teams were routinely killing the Blazers inside, particularly by way of the lob pass to big men. The Blazers not only couldn’t stop it, but they also couldn’t respond in like on the other end. Portland’s big man for the past seven years was Jusuf Nurkić — a skilled player, but he wasn’t athletic or able to play above the rim. That all changes now with Ayton and Williams.

So what does that mean?

Dunks. A lot more of them from Blazers centers, and likely, a lot fewer from opponents. It’s a game changer for a Portland team that has ranked near the bottom defensively for the past five seasons and has had to rely so heavily on the jump shooting of its guards.

Last season, Nurkić had 21 dunks. Ayton had 110. Williams, in his last full season in 2021-22 with Boston, had a whopping 157 dunks. Meanwhile, Williams is one of the finest defensive centers in the league and was named second-team All-NBA defense in 2021-22, when he ranked second in the league in blocks per game (2.2).

“We are going to put a lot of pressure on the paint on the offensive end, and defensively, we will protect the rim,” Billups said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

The big question will be what Ayton the Blazers will be getting on a regular basis: the one who can be the most dominant player on the court, or the one whose effort was questioned in Phoenix to the point where he had conflicts with coach Monty Williams. I asked Ayton about his reputation of having a low motor and how he plans to counter that.

“That won’t be a question at all,” Ayton said. “That’s one of the reasons I told you guys this summer that I will be changing the narrative. I’m in an organization that wants me and wants me to succeed. There’s a lot more passion when you feel that mentally, and you will see it physically as well. There will be more grit. A lot more domination.”

Point guard by committee?

For the past 11 seasons, Lillard has dominated the minutes at point guard, with spot back-up duty being handled by CJ McCollum and then Simons. This season, Billups says he will be comfortable using three players at point guard — Henderson, Simons and newly acquired Malcolm Brogdon, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year award winner.

The immediate news out of this is that it doesn’t sound as if Cronin is itching to trade Brogdon, who came to Portland along with Williams in the Jrue Holiday trade. Cronin said Brogdon and Williams are set to arrive Tuesday at the team’s training camp in Santa Barbara, Calif., where they will receive a physical either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. Cronin said he has no concerns prior to Brogdon’s physical (earlier this summer, the timing of Brogdon’s physical was a hang-up that prevented Boston from completing a previous deal).

Cronin said Monday that he wants Brogdon “to come here and be a part of this” and mentor the young players, and Billups said he envisions Brogdon and Simons vacillating between point guard and shooting guard, with the soon-to-be 31-year-old Brogdon becoming a valuable mentor to Henderson and the other youngsters.

“He’s just a grown-up,” Billups said. “And we have all these young pups who are very young in the league, and you need some grown-ups around them who can help them, show them … and Malcolm is the perfect guy.”

Possible big lineup?

An intriguing option for the Blazers this season will be moving Jerami Grant from power forward to small forward, a move that Grant on Monday says has been broached to him by the higher-ups. Grant says he is fine with the move, which could allow Portland to play a frontcourt of Grant at small forward, Williams at power forward and Ayton at center.

“I’m fine with it, fine with it,” Grant said. “Three or four, it doesn’t really matter, especially in today’s NBA. A lot of teams go position-less, other than the one and five … They asked me, and I gave the same answer. It doesn’t really matter, wherever you put me at, I will figure it out.”

After spending last season as the most undersized roster in the NBA, and one of the worst defensive teams, the potential of that frontcourt is enticing when considering the height, length and athleticism of all three, not to mention the defensive prowess of Grant and Williams. You have to figure this will be a look Billups toys with in training camp and preseason, because on a team full of youngsters, this has the potential to be a trusted, late-game unit.

Scoot and spreading the love

A noteworthy observation from those inside the Blazers after watching the team scrimmage for the past month has been the playmaking ability of Henderson. Yes, we have all been wowed by the highlights of his athletic drives and finishes and his big scoring nights in the G League, but people like Cronin, Billups and Shaedon Sharpe all said they have been impressed by how Henderson creates plays for his teammates.

“He can really see the court,” Sharpe said. “It’s crazy because I was playing against him five-on-five and the passes he was making, I was like ‘How does he see that?!”’

Cronin said Henderson has been in Portland almost non-stop since July, when summer league ended, and as he watched the No. 3 overall pick play pickup games, he said his scouting senses got a reboot from his original assessment.

“He’s a better playmaker, has a better point-guard IQ, get-guys-the-ball mentality than even I expected,” Cronin said. “I knew he was really good at that, but he’s really impressed me with his ability to get other guys shots. And you can just see how infectious it is.”

For Portland, which has ranked at or near the bottom of the league in assists for the past four years, if Henderson’s share-the-ball outlook can spread throughout the roster, it will have a major impact on the productivity — and watchability — of the Blazers.

Henderson calls his playmaking “spreading the love,” and he says the roots connect to core of why he loves basketball.

“Basketball is a team sport,” Henderson said. “If you are a one-man army, you can’t win it all … I think that’s the best thing about basketball: the sharing and all things (being about) teammates, about team.”

He credits his vision for passing to his days as a youth playing running back in football, which helped hone his peripheral vision. After he quit playing football in 10th grade, he said his vision transferred to basketball.

“I’ve always been an unselfish player,” Henderson said. “I’ve always loved to bring (defenses) in and kick out — that’s always been my game. You can ask any of my teammates — whatever age group, when I was 9 or playing in high school or the Ignite — that’s always been my game. To create chaos, then spray (passes) out.”

Pedal to the metal

Stylistically, two things became clear on media day about this group of Blazers: They intend to play fast and be fun.

Billups and Cronin have set the directive that they expect this group to play fast, and players say Henderson has been pushing the group at breakneck speed in scrimmages. Again, this will be in stark contrast to the half-court ways in which the Blazers excelled under the pick-and-roll excellence of Lillard.

“I’ve probably never played that fast,” Simons said of the team’s September pickup games. “I think this year is going to show another way we can play.”

Added Matisse Thybulle: “The potential for the speed we can play at is probably intriguing to most of us here.”

If you are envisioning Sharpe streaking down the wing and soaring for a dunk, or Henderson pushing and kicking back to Simons for a 3, your dream is halfway there. Cronin said the team’s fast-pace philosophy was one reason the Blazers targeted Ayton as their center.

“We are going to play fast, and Deandre is one of the best athletic big men in the league,” Cronin said. “He can really change ends.”

Their pace of play should symbolize how they intend to distance themselves from the Lillard Era. It was a marvelous time, filled with memories, but it’s over. There’s a new era, filled with size, speed and potential.

“We feel we’ve taken huge steps to really reshape and revamp this roster,” Cronin said. “We are ready to get started.”

Not long after Cronin said that, Henderson took the stage, with an entrance unlike any other. With a smile from Mt. Hood to Haystack Rock, Henderson sat down and introduced himself.

“What’s up everybody? How I look?”

You look like a new era. For a reason.

(Photo of Scoot Henderson: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)