Victor Wembanyama has created an undeniable gap between himself and Scoot Henderson

The rookie extension deadline passed before the season started, and the Portland Trail Blazers did not reach an agreement with their 22-year-old guard Scoot Henderson. In effect, he will be a restricted free agent next summer. This is yet another example of how far the gap is between Victor Wembanyama and the rest of the 2022 NBA Draft class.

The Trail Blazers selected Henderson with the third pick in that year's draft, hoping that he could follow in Damian Lillard's footsteps as the franchise's next elite point guard. Well, that hasn't exactly worked out. Despite an impressive showing in the 2026 Playoffs, he's far from being an All-Star-caliber player at this point in his career.

Contrast that with Wemby, who's in the conversation as the best player in the entire league. He's already led the San Antonio Spurs to a level of success they haven't seen in over a decade and he's back for a fourth season with every team in the league circling San Antonio.

The Blazers vs. Spurs first round series proved there's levels to this

The Spurs faced the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 2026 Playoffs, pitting Henderson and Wemby against each other in their first postseason appearances. The difference in their performances on that stage proved why the Silver and Black were right to select Wemby with the first pick a few years back.

He was easily the best player in that series, averaging 21 points, 8.8 rebounds, and four blocks. This included a 35-point outburst in Game 1, breaking the Spurs' franchise record for most points scored in a playoff debut.

Now, Henderson was solid during that series himself. He averaged 15 points as a starter, while shooting 47.5% from the floor and a blistering 46.4% from three on 5.6 attempts per game. You could call his first playoff showing the breakout moment of his career, but it still wasn't on the same level as Wemby.

The Alien led his team to a five-game victory over the Blazers, strengthening his case as the league's best player. I don't want to discredit Henderson's own individual path to stardom, but this is far from his assessment of being "one-of-none" compared to his peers in that 2023 Draft class.

Nobody in that '23 class has come close to reaching Wemby's impact

Henderson isn't the only player from that class who's yet to come close to Wemby. Brandon Miller has been great so far for the Hornets, and even signed a five-year, $209M extension to stay there. But he's far from being in the same conversations that The Alien is in right now.

The Thompson Twins are defensive stalwarts, but they haven't rounded out their games to leave a two-way impact like Wembanyama. Others like Cason Wallace and Dereck Lively II have competed on some big stages with an NBA Finals appearance under their belt, but don't have that sort of individual stardom.

Now, each of those aforementioned players still has plenty of time to become stars in this league; they're not even 25 years old yet. It would be foolish to count out the idea of Henderson starring as a lead guard at some point in his career. But Wemby's already set a ridiculously high bar that the rest of his draft class hasn't come close to reaching.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow