Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson is expected to make his season debut on Friday when Portland hosts Memphis, head coach Tiago Splitter said today (Twitter link via Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report).
Henderson has yet to play in 2025/26 due to the left hamstring tear he suffered during a workout prior to training camp. When the Blazers first announced the injury in September, they indicated the third-year guard would be sidelined from basketball activities for about four-to-eight weeks.
However, general manager Joe Cronin told reporters on media day the following week that Henderson’s timeline for resuming basketball activities could extend beyond that initial projection, since hamstring injuries can be “stubborn” and tricky to handle. Over four months later, the 6’3″ guard — who turned 22 on Tuesday — is finally set to return.
The third overall pick in the 2023 draft, Henderson had an up-and-down rookie season but began to show real improvement in his second year in the NBA. In his final 35 games of the 2024/25 season, he averaged 14.2 points, 5.2 assists, and 3.1 rebounds in 27.5 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .434/.384/.766.
Henderson will join a backcourt rotation that features Shaedon Sharpe, Jrue Holiday, rookie Caleb Love, new acquisition Vit Krejci, and Blake Wesley, who recently returned from a lengthy injury absence of his own.
Henderson will be entering the final year of his rookie contract in 2026/27, so he’ll have an opportunity over the final two months of this season to make his case for a rookie scale extension. He becomes extension-eligible in July and would reach restricted free agency in 2027 if he doesn’t sign a new deal during the 2026 offseason.