After over a decade of superstar guard Damian Lillard leading the way for the Portland Trail Blazers, the franchise chose to go in a different direction this past summer, with the team now in a youth movement and Lillard now playing for the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Blazers felt that going all-in with rookie guard Scoot Henderson rather than continuing to lean on Lillard with no results was the right course of action, and that might ultimately be the case.
However, things don’t look great for Portland early in the 2023-24 NBA season when comparing the first five games of Henderson’s career with the team to Lillard’s first five games with the franchise.
According to a graphic from Ball Don’t Lie, Lillard was a much better player in his first five games as opposed to Henderson, and it’s not even close.
Did the Blazers make the right move? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/rV07Xr5kzC
— Ball Don’t Lie (@Balldontlie) November 2, 2023
Even though this isn’t a great sign to start the season, there’s a lot of time left for Henderson to turn things around and therefore change the narrative in Portland right now.
First of all, Henderson and Lillard are two completely different players with different play styles, so direct comparisons aren’t fair.
Lillard is a pure scorer, and it could be argued that he’s more of a shooting guard than he is a point guard like Henderson.
The rookie, on the other hand, is a floor general and prides himself in getting others involved while putting on a show with his athleticism and relentless drive, so these two couldn’t be more different but will be compared regardless.
NEXT: Numbers Show New Blazers Player Has Struggled To Start The Season