The Portland Trail Blazers have now lost three consecutive games after their 113-101 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night, but they received a nice jolt from Gerald Henderson in his Blazers debut. Henderson missed the first seven games of the season after undergoing hip surgery, and he looked good in his first game back. Henderson's time with the Blazers could be short, though, as it is being reported that Portland might choose to use him as trade bait when the deadline approaches, according to Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post.
Henderson was acquired in a trade this offseason from the Charlotte Hornets, and he is in the final year of his three-year, $18 million contract. The fact that he has an expiring contract will make him more desirable, and it also makes the Blazers less inclined to keep him around should they fall out of contention fairly early.
Henderson is a good scorer, but a lot of his value will be tied to how he plays with the Blazers as the season progresses. The 27-year-old guard got his season off to a good start on Wednesday as he looked very healthy. Henderson was definitely rusty in his first game of the season, as he missed his first four shot attempts, but he recovered nicely in the second half as he made his final six shots and finished with 12 points.
The Blazers are not expected to make the playoffs in the loaded Western Conference, and Henderson is likely not in their future plans, so it would make sense for them to see what they can get for him in a trade. What Henderson might be able to fetch in a trade is an interesting question, but a good person to compare him to might be Arron Afflalo who Portland traded for last year. The Blazers gave up three young players and a top-14 protected first-round pick for Afflalo and may be able to get a similar package later this season for Henderson should he stay healthy and play well.
The Blazers were just fine off the bench at the wing positions before Henderson got back, so losing him wouldn't be a huge deal to this team anyway. Both Allen Crabbe and Maurice Harkless have played well off the bench so far this season, and they are young guys the Blazers want to continue to develop. As long as Henderson is in Portland, he will likely getting playing time, maybe as an audition of sorts, and the hope might be that he can increase his value so they can trade him to a team with a need for a wing scorer.
