Scoot Henderson Enters a Contract Year With More to Prove Than Ever

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📍TUALATIN, Ore. — Are you ready for the Summer of Scoot?

The Trail Blazers and Scoot Henderson did not come to an agreement on a new contract ahead of Monday afternoon’s rookie-extension deadline for the 2023 draft class. The former No. 3 overall pick will now be a restricted free agent next offseason.

“It is what it is,” Henderson said Tuesday after practice. “The man above doesn’t make mistakes. I’m going to keep playing my best ball.”

It’s only appropriate that it went this way. Getting a deal done at a fair number for both sides and locking in his long-term future would have been too clean and logical an outcome for Henderson, whose entire career has been full of things that haven’t gone the way they were supposed to, even as he appears (finally) to be on the verge of a breakout.

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