Scoot Henderson's summer league is over. The Portland Trail Blazers have decided to shut down the No. 3 pick in the 2023 draft for the rest of their time in Las Vegas, according to the Oregonian's Aaron Fentress. Henderson has not played since hurting his shoulder in Portland's opening game against the Houston Rockets last Friday.
It is unfortunate that Henderson will only play 21 minutes in summer league -- but at least those 21 minutes were captivating. Before he left with the injury, the 19-year-old got wherever he wanted against Houston, showing off his quickness, ballhandling, vision and maturity.
When a prospect of Henderson's caliber gets banged up in Vegas, it is not unusual for a team to simply shelve him. Henderson's brief but memorable showing was reminiscent of Zion Williamson's nine-minute appearance in 2019 (he bruised his left knee in his first game), and Henderson wasn't even the only top-four pick to have his debut cut short in that Blazers-Rockets game: Houston guard Amen Thompson left after 28 minutes because of a sprained ankle, and the team almost immediately ruled him out for the remainder of summer league.
This is the second consecutive summer league in which Portland has lost its most interesting player almost immediately as a result of a shoulder injury. This is not ideal, but Henderson's experience was more than four times longer -- and exponentially more impressive -- than the five minutes of run that Shaedon Sharpe got last year.
