The chances of the Trail Blazers trading No. 3 pick Scoot Henderson are basically at zero percent. Team’s star Damian Lillard who wanted Portland to use this pick to get a high caliber veteran to give him a better chance of winning his first championship, but it appears that this will not happen.
It was anticipated that the 32-year-old point guard will make a trade request if his demand is not met. According to NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, it is up to the player to decide whether he wants to play with a group of young guys or move elsewhere.
“Damian Lillard has to decide if he wants to grow with this young group,” Woj said on Get Up, via HoopsHype. “This team is not going to be a championship contender this season.
“I think they’ve done an outstanding job in Portland in the last couple of years in the draft – Shaedon Sharpe last year and then this year, Scoot Henderson and two other good players who you could see a pathway to this young team.
“And if Damian Lillard wants to go to a contender, it’s gonna probably have to be somewhere [else] unless he’s willing to wait a couple years for this young group to grow. There’s no magic trade out there for them, they’ll try to re-sign Jerami Grant, I have some confidence they’ll be able to do that. He was certainly impactful last year.
“Damian Lillard has said he wants to spend his career in Portland, he wants to retire a Blazer, he certainly has that opportunity. He’s gonna be among the highest-paid players in the league over the next few years but I think Portland did what was right by their organization.
“Trading out of No. 3 for whatever the best available veteran would have been, would have been malpractice. You’re in a market like Portland, you don’t get cracks at it, you can’t go out in free agency to get star players. Your chance to get a star player is through the draft, and I think they did that last night.”
