Don’t “Scoot” Past Scoot Henderson: A Scouting Report

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Scoot Henderson
(Darren Yamashita/USA TODAY Sports)

The San Antonio Spurs are undoubtedly going to be riding the “Tank Train” pretty hard this season. The obvious top pick they will be going after is Victor Wembanyama. Should the Spurs fail to get the first pick, the consolation prize of guard Scoot Henderson is not too bad. The 6-foot-4, 195-pound teenager shined in his first season in the G-League and is expected to be considerably better before he gets drafted in the top five of 2023’s NBA Draft.

Examining Scoot Henderson’s Game

An absolute blur on his first step, Henderson dominated the game at times despite being a 17-year-old for much of the season. He will have to work on his outside jumper, but has many of the other tools to be a lead guard from day one. Below are his splits between the G-League Ignite Tour (10 games) and the Showcase (11 games).

GLIT: 

  • 14.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 4.9 APG, 1.5 SPG, 1.7 TOPG
  • 46.0 FG%, 25.0 3P%, 77.8 FT%

Showcase:

  • 14.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 3.6 APG, 1.7 SPG, 2.6 TOPG
  • 43.6 FG%, 17.4 3P%, 77.8 FT%

Henderson is such a fascinating prospect because he is so reminiscent of prime Derrick Rose mixed with some Russell Westbrook. When he finishes above the rim, there’s a great chance it is a hammer dunk or something explosive. Finishing below the rim, he usually uses a shifty move to get to the other side of the rim to avoid a block. When he gets downhill, Henderson is nigh unstoppable thanks to his speed and his strength.

Scoot Henderson’s Strengths and Weaknesses

Handling the ball and getting to the rim are Henderson’s biggest strengths. He is also a solid pull-up shooter in the mid-range. He can get his teammates involved fairly well and finds guys well who run with him on fastbreaks. Henderson also explodes quite often on his own in those situations as well.

While the mid-range and rim-finishing is great from Henderson, his outside shooting needs some cleaning up. There aren’t any major mechanical issues so it’s going to be a matter of repetition and gaining confidence in his shot. Should he do that within his last year in the G-League or even his first couple campaigns in the NBA, Henderson promises to have a fantastic career ahead of him.

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