Here’s the latest Portland Trail Blazers news from March 19, including Deandre Ayton setting a career high, Scoot Henderson struggling again and a look at updated 2024 NBA Draft lottery odds.
“Consistency” and “Deandre Ayton” go together like peanut butter and tuna. The No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft was incredibly good for stretches, but his play and effort ebbed and flowed.
He still has a lot to prove, but the 25-year-old recent explosion was the best series of his career.
With a 25 point, 15 rebound and 2 block performance in a loss to the Chicago Bulls, Ayton scored 20 or more points in six consecutive games. for the first time during his five NBA seasons. During that span, his 26.8 points per game leads all centers and his 15.0 rebounds rank second.
He doesn’t need to average 26 and 15, but Ayton still has a long way to go to prove he’s one of the best centers in the league, as his head coach and contract suggest . Still, he’s statistically playing some of the best basketball of his career.
After bouncing back from a rough start to his NBA career, Scoot Henderson made the necessary adjustments and played well enough for head coach Chauncey Billups to return him as the Blazers’ starting point guard.
In the nine games prior to this promotion, Scoot posted averages of 15.0 points and 4.7 assists on 42/41/98 shooting splits while turning the ball over less than twice per night.
Then bad luck struck and Henderson aggravated an adductor injury while competing in the Rising Stars tournament during All-Star Weekend. He missed eight games and returned March 9, but the Scoot of the last six games is not the one before the All-Star break.
Since his return, Henderson has looked like the player he was in November and December before hitting the proverbial milestone. His assist numbers are still there, but he’s barely scoring 10 points per game, averaging over 3 turnovers and shooting 34 percent from the field and 18 percent from three.
Hopefully he’s just rusty after three weeks out, or maybe he’s playing injured. Either way, Scoot’s regression is concerning and there isn’t much time left in the season to turn things around.
With three consecutive losses and seven in their last nine games, the Trail Blazers have dropped to 19-49 on the season. Veterans Jerami Grant and Malcolm Brogdon have now missed extended periods and Matisse Thybulle entered the Bulls game questionably with an ankle injury and left after five minutes.
Add it all up and it’s time to check the draft lottery rankings.
Portland holds steady with the fifth-best chance to land the top pick in the 2024 draft. The Charlotte Hornets are two games ahead of the Blazers for fourth place, the San Antonio Spurs are four games ahead of PDX for third place and the Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons are fighting for first place.
There are 14 games remaining in the regular season.
