With 18 games left in the NBA regular season, the Portland Trail Blazers find themselves with an 19-51 record, good for second-to-last place in the Western Conference standings. With hopes of competing for a playoff spot far in the rear-view mirror for the Blazers, it's time for fans to turn their attention to Portland's development of their young players on the roster.
And Portland has plenty of youth on the roster to keep an eye on. With an average age of 24.5 the Blazers are the second-youngest team in the NBA, just behind the San Antonio Spurs.
With that in mind, here are the young players that Blazers fans should focus on for the rest of the 2023-24 season.
Scoot Henderson
After a terrible start to the Blazers season, Henderson appeared to be turning things around before aggravating a groin injury during NBA All-Star Weekend. After returning from the injury, Scoot's play reverted much closer to the player he was in November than the rising star he appeared to be in January.
With the team playing out the string, look for Henderson to play ample minutes in order to build momentum toward a critical sophomore season. In particular, turnovers and footwork in the paint are two areas to focus on. Henderson has improved his turnover rate throughout the season but still has stretches where he's reckless with the ball.
While he gets to the rim as well as anyone in the league already, he struggles to put himself into strong finishing positions. Henderson's 46 percent shooting percentage at the rim ranks in just the ninth percentile of NBA players, per Cleaning the Glass. At short mid-range? 13th percentile. For a player that gets into the paint so effortlessly, those numbers need to improve if he's to truly claim the mantle of ‘Blazers point guard of the future.'
Kris Murray
Blazers rookie forward Kris Murray is starting to break through toward the end of his first season. A player who does everything well except shoot the open 3-pointer, Murray has had back-to-back games of 17 and 21 points – his two highest scoring outbursts of the season.
Most critically, Murray went a combined 6-12 from the 3-point line for the Blazers in those two games – both losses to the Los Angeles Clippers. While he struggles from distance, shooting just under 31 percent from the 3-point line, Murray has started to knock down the corner three with consistency. Murray shoots 38 percent from the corners, placing right near league average.
If he can continue to improve his stroke over the rest of the season, he'll likely maintain his role next year for the Blazers. As a player who rebounds and defends at a solid clip, unlocking the 3-point shot is key for Murray's development.
Jabari Walker
Walker is in an interesting position for the Blazers. An energy player with an inconsistent shot, Walker has had moments this season where he has singlehandedly led Portland to mini-runs with his offensive rebounding and aggressive defense. Unfortunately, just as often, Walker can struggle offensively and get caught in foul trouble.
With coach Billups' tendency to go small with a combination of Murray, Matisse Thybulle, and Toumani Camara at the reserve forward spots, Walker needs to display more consistency over the rest of the season to show that he has a place in the rotation going forward.
When he's playing well, Walker is a clear floor-raiser for the Blazers. He just needs to show it more frequently.
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