Summer League, Day 1: The Scoot Era is Here

Despite leaving with a shoulder injury, Scoot Henderson impressed in his Summer League debut.

LAS VEGAS — The Trail Blazers' present is muddled for obvious reasons, but for one half, the world got a look at just how bright their future can be. And then, just as quickly, it got put on pause.

The Summer League debut of No. 3 overall pick Scoot Henderson lived up to the billing, until he exited the game in the third quarter with a right shoulder injury. On his first possession, he dribbled into a jumper from the midrange and knocked it down. The vision was on display on drive-and-kicks, and he knocked down an open three.

Victor Wembanyama's debut in the game following the Blazers' 100-99 loss to the Rockets was the headline act, the reason tickets for the opening day of Summer League were going for hundreds of dollars on the secondary market. But there was plenty of buzz for the arrival of Scoot, too. And until the injury, he delivered.

Nobody saw exactly how the injury happened, and even those with the team didn't realize he was hurt until head athletic trainer Jessica Cohen sprinted back to the locker room to attend to him. Assistant coach Jonah Herscu, who is serving as head coach of the Summer League team, hadn't gotten an update from the medical staff when he spoke to reporters. Henderson is expected to undergo an MRI on Saturday.

For whatever it's worth, Henderson was walking around in the tunnel behind the Thomas and Mack center without any kind of sling or wrap on his shoulder and seemed to be in good spirits. There appears to be optimism that the injury is not serious, but the team won't know either way until the rest results come back.

It was a little bit of deja vu from last year, when No. 7 overall pick Shaedon Sharpe suffered a shoulder injury five minutes into his Summer League debut and missed the rest of the event. If that happens again this year with Henderson, it will be a downer. But unlike with Sharpe's injury happening so early last year, they saw enough from Henderson in the half that he played to feel great about the future, regardless of how the other thing shakes out.

Sharpe got a do-over on his own Summer League experience and also impressed. He threw down a dunk over Jay Huff and got into a verbal back-and-forth with Cam Whitmore on the way to 21 points. He's going to be this year's entry into the Kawhi Leonard/Brandon Ingram/Devin Booker Hall of Second-Year Players Who Are Way Too Good to Be Playing at Summer League. I'd expect the Blazers to shut him down after Sunday's game against the Spurs.

The Blazers' other returning rotation player, Jabari Walker, was comfortable and confident, knocking down both of his three-point attempts and grabbing 10 rebounds. And Ibou Badji, making his Blazers debut after not playing last season while on a two-way contract, flashed the upside as a rim protector that's been teased behind the scenes for a year. He's probably still not ready to contribute at the NBA level yet, but he's further along than anticipated. Kris Murray, the No. 23 overall pick, was as advertised—a low-mistake, high-IQ wing who knows where to be. The Blazers' newly minted second-round pick, Rayan Rupert, on the other hand, struggled in his debut and appears a ways away. Good thing the Blazers have a G League team now.

The tenor of the rest of the Blazers' Summer League will be determined by Henderson's MRI results and whether he plays the rest of the way. But they might have got a guy.