The Portland Trail Blazers lost a lot of talent from last season's playoff team including four out of five starters. LaMarcus Aldridge gets all of the publicity as the guy that they will miss the most but Nicolas Batum might be just as big a loss. Gerald Henderson is one of the players they acquired when they traded Batum and he will also be one of the players that is expected to help fill the void he left. Henderson is still recovering from hip surgery and may not be ready for opening night though, according to Joe Freeman of The Oregonian.
Henderson underwent debridement arthroscopic surgery on his left hip in July and has yet to be fully cleared for basketball activities. Henderson will be limited throughout training camp and although he will be participating a little bit it is unknown if he will be able to play in games that count in a month. Henderson said that he is definitely improving and getting close but he is not sure when he will be able to go without restrictions.
"I want to play in the first game, but I can't say right now, but it won't be long before I play. I know it's one of those things you just want to make sure you're good and in shape and ready to go before you get right back into it. It's just something I have to take day-by-day," said Henderson.
It sounds like if Henderson weren't able to go on opening night that he would be able to play soon after that as he believes he's making good progress. The Blazers will need Henderson to be healthy and perform well if they want any chance to be competitive in the brutal Western Conference. Henderson doesn't do as many things on the floor as Batum does but he can score very well and the Blazers will definitely need that. Henderson is expected to start alongside Al-Farouq Aminu who doesn't bring much to the table in the way of offense so Henderson should carry a big load as the next best option after Damien Lillard.
Henderson is now 27 years old and entering his seventh season in the NBA with the first six having come with the Charlotte Hornets organization. Last season Henderson had his minutes reduced a little bit but for his career he averages 12 points and 3.4 rebounds per game while shooting 44 percent from the field and 31 percent from three. The former Duke Blue Devil is an extremely good athlete whose jump shot has become a weapon for him so look for his offensive output to increase in his first season with the Blazers.
