Rookie combo guard Scoot Henderson has been making immense progress in recent weeks in terms of his development, even as his Portland Trail Blazers struggle to stack up wins with any consistency. In fact, Henderson was recently inserted into the starting lineup for Thursday's home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, illustrating the increased confidence of Blazers head coach and former legendary NBA point guard Chauncey Billups in his third overall pick's ability.

For his efforts this year, Henderson was awarded a spot in the NBA Rising Stars challenge, a part of the annual All-Star festivities which this year take place in Indianapolis, and early on in the contest, Henderson earned himself a highlight by hitting Oklahoma City Thunder rookie big man Chet Holmgren with a killer hesitation crossover before jetting to the rim to finish with a flashy layup over Walker Kessler of the Utah Jazz.

(Video courtesy of Hoop Central on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter, via TNT).

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Peter Sampson ·

The move is perhaps just a small sample of what convinced the Blazers to take Scoot Henderson with the third overall pick this past NBA Draft, flashing the immense athleticism combined with elite dexterity and ball handling skills that figure to make Henderson an elite prospect at this level in the near future, if he's not already there.

As previously mentioned, winning games isn't necessarily of paramount importance for Portland at this point in time, so it will be important for Henderson to continue to get reps and increase his comfort level out on the court.