After a rough start to his career, Portland Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson is starting to find his way.

Henderson, the Blazers' 19-year-old point guard, was the third pick in the 2023 NBA Draft and faced immense pressure from day one. Scoot was hyped as a massive talent coming from the G-League Ignite that would have potentially gone no. 1 overall in many non-Victor Wembanyama draft years. He was replacing a franchise icon in Damian Lillard. He was starting on day one, playing a position where rookies, especially teenagers, struggle out of the gates more often than not.

And struggle Henderson did. After getting his ‘Welcome to the NBA' moment on opening night against future Hall of Famer (and Henderson's idol) Russell Westbrook, the Blazers rookie struggled with his jump shot, finishing around the rim, turnovers, fouls, and virtually everything else.

After missing nine games due to an ankle sprain, Henderson came back in a much better position. He had undiagnosed vision issues that were corrected (and made awesome, via his throwback goggles). He moved to a bench role for the Blazers, where he faced a lot less pressure. And he was guided by coach Chauncey Billups, a legendary point guard in his own right, who helped him balance his speed and athleticism with the patience needed to run an offense.

Henderson's game is still a work in progress, but the results are starting to come in fits and starts that are beginning to group together. He has back-to-back games with 13 points against the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers; a 17-point outburst against the Utah Jazz; and 19 points and six assists in his rematch with the Clippers. On Thursday, he had career-high 23 points and 10 assists in a 122-114 loss to the Jazz, including three explosive dunks:

Not bad for someone that was getting buried on social media just a few weeks ago.

When asked about his performance after game, Henderson was even keeled, “Not really a breakthrough, just finding my comfort. Starting to see the ball go in more. That's about it. Obviously still confident.”

If there's one thing that Henderson has been through all of his early career ups and downs, it's confident. NBA players come with all different sorts of personalities. Some are cool. Some are standoffish. Some are indifferent. And some are natural stars. Make no mistake, Scoot Henderson has the ‘it' factor in spades.

It's reasonable to expect continued inconsistency for the next few months, or even the rest of the season. That's just how it goes for 19-year-old rookie point guards. But if you haven't been paying attention, Henderson is slowly putting it all together. Over his last eight games, he's shooting just a hair under 33 percent from the 3-point line. Not fantastic, but much better than the eight percent he was shooting prior to that. In the same timeframe, his turnovers are down from nearly four a night to 2.7 per game.

There are a lot of reasons why casual fans may not be watching the Trail Blazers this season. The team isn't expected to win very many games. Damian Lillard is gone. The future is uncertain. But Henderson's progress from game-to-game is one of the most intriguing and entertaining storylines to watch out for this season. Scoot is starting to put things together right now. If he keeps it up, he'll shut down all of the uninformed online chatter.

Not that it affects his confidence either way.