The Portland Trail Blazers are seven games into the 2023-24 season, one in which they begin the post-Damian Lillard era. There have been pleasant surprises early this season, but also several disappointments. Anfernee Simons got injured in the season opener, Robert Williams III left Sunday's loss against the Grizzlies with a knee injury, and the offense is currently ranked dead last in the NBA.

But he biggest disappointment for Blazers fans so far this season has to be the play of Scoot Henderson, followed by his ankle injury.

A big adjustment

To be fair, expectations for the Blazers' 19-year-old rookie point guard were already way overblown. It's just not reasonable to expect a ball-handler that young to immediately step into the starting lineup and succeed from day one. But, while Henderson showed improvement from game to game, his struggles have been a letdown for fans.

Henderson has struggled in several key areas this season. Turnovers, fouls, finishing at the rim, and 3-point shooting have all been issues. In his 28 minutes per game, Henderson is averaging 8.8 points on 34.6 percent shooting. He's hitting just 9.5 percent of his 3-point attempts. He turns the ball over four times a night. He commits four fouls per game.

These are concerning numbers, but Henderson has already shown fairly dramatic improvement from game-to-game. After having his ‘welcome to the NBA' moment on opening night against the Clippers, Henderson has shown a better understanding of how to get to his spots using his explosive speed. He still needs to figure out what to do once he gets there, but he's already looking more comfortable.

Ultimately, this season for the Blazers is about getting Henderson reps and having him adjust to the NBA game. The numbers don't matter so much as seeing tangible progress from game one to game 5 and so on. Unfortunately, Henderson now has a different issue.

Any missed time is a missed opportunity

In the Blazers' game against the Detroit Pistons, Henderson was having the best stretch of his rookie season in the second half when he rolled an ankle. Henderson has been out of action since then, missing the Blazers' NBA in-season tournament game against the Memphis Grizzlies, and then the rematch between the two teams on Sunday.

Regardless of performance, it's key to the future of the franchise that Henderson be able to play through struggles and put together more stretches of solid play. Scoot has shown that he's able to take feedback well and incorporate it almost immediately. After playing slow in his NBA debut, Henderson has more effectively used his burst. After committing five, five, and six fouls in a three-game stretch, Scoot only had two fouls against the Pistons in his 20 minutes.

Long-term outlook

There has been a lot of overreaction online regarding Henderson's early season struggles. Teenaged point guards take time; as evidenced by Kyrie Irving and even LaMelo Ball to a degree. There's no reason to think that Scoot won't be able to figure some of this stuff out for the Blazers later this season. Developing a consistent 3-point shot may take some time, but Henderson doesn't have anything in his form that indicate long-term issues. He's super athletic, has an understanding of the game, and a willingness to work. That's all anyone can ask of Henderson at this point. It may be a disappointing start to his career, but there's no indication that any of Scoot's issues are long-term problems.