Kerry Eggers: More Joe Cronin on Dame and Scoot: “It’s a possibility those two can blend well together. They can complement each other. We’ll see how Chauncey decides how to use them. I don’t know if he’ll use (Henderson) as a backup or a starter, or swing him, but basketball is about talent.” -via Twitter @kerryeggers / June 23, 2023

Adrian Wojnarowski: Damian Lillard has to decide if he wants to grow with this young group. This team is not going to be a championship contender this season. I think they’ve done an outstanding job in Portland in the last couple of years in the draft – Shaedon Sharpe last year and then this year, Scoot Henderson and two other good players who you could see a pathway to this young team. And if Damian Lillard wants to go to a contender, it’s gonna probably have to be somewhere [else] unless he’s willing to wait a couple years for this young group to grow. There’s no magic trade out there for them, they’ll try to re-sign Jerami Grant, I have some confidence they’ll be able to do that. He was certainly impactful last year. Damian Lillard has said he wants to spend his career in Portland, he wants to retire a Blazer, he certainly has that opportunity. He’s gonna be among the highest-paid players in the league over the next few years but I think Portland did what was right by their organization. Trading out of No. 3 for whatever the best available veteran would have been, would have been malpractice. You’re in a market like Portland, you don’t get cracks at it, you can’t go out in free agency to get star players. Your chance to get a star player is through the draft, and I think they did that last night. -via Twitter @GetUpESPN / June 23, 2023

Lillard appears to be in control of his future in Portland, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who said on the network’s draft coverage that the Blazers will only consider moving Lillard if he asks for a trade (hat tip to Real GM). “Damian Lillard has a decision to make,” Wojnarowski said. “… If he decides he wants a trade, I think the organization will accommodate him. But they don’t want to trade him.” Woj adds that the Blazers front office believes Henderson is more valuable than any return they could have gotten through a trade. -via Hoops Rumors / June 23, 2023