Don't look now, but Portland Trail Blazers rookie point guard Scoot Henderson is turning into what everyone thought he would be at the start of the 2023-24 NBA season.

One day after notching 25 points and 4 assists in a loss to the San Antonio Spurs, Henderson exacted some revenge, going for 22 points, 11 assists, and 7 rebounds in the Blazers' 134-128 win over those same Spurs:

After a brutal start to the season that saw Henderson shoot 8 percent from the 3-point line through Nov. 22, miss nine games with a rolled ankle, and seemingly turn the ball over more than notch an assist, Scoot has started to excel for the Blazers.

Over his last 10 games Scoot is giving the Blazers 15.8 points, 5.5 assists, and 3 rebounds while shooting 43 percent from the 3-point line. Prior to this current stretch? 9.3 points, 4.1 assists, 2.7 rebounds on 18 percent from beyond the arc. His turnovers are also slightly down (from 3.3 to 3.0) in that same stretch despite playing nearly four more minutes per game.

Most importantly for the Blazers, the offense just seems to flow better with him out on the court. Despite some (absurd) comparisons to Ja Morant and others before the draft, Henderson is much more of a prototypical point guard; albeit one that happens to have elite strength and athleticism at just 19 years of age. He's a willing passer, and has even shown a flair for highlight assists:

So what has changed? After the game on Friday, Henderson was fairly nonchalant when asked if it was his most comfortable game creating for his teammates as a pro. “I guess so,” said Scoot. “I've only played so many games, I can't really tell. Every single game, just trying to get better. With film watching and seeing where I'm messing up and seeing where I can get better and what I'm good at and just trying to emphasize that.”

While Victor Wembanyama has rightfully earned the vast majority of rookie hype this season, Henderson is quietly – at least on the national stage – rounding into the player that the Blazers envisioned he would be when they drafted him third overall this summer. Teenaged point guards almost always struggle out of the gate, but should Henderson keep up this level of improvement, it's possible that his struggles will be shorter-lived than many of the greats that he's been compared to.