The Portland Trail Blazers recently made national headlines when they traded away longtime franchise cornerstone Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks. Although the end of the Lillard saga will certainly spell the beginning of a rebuilding era for the Blazers, the team may already have their guard of the future in 2023 draftee Scoot Henderson.

Recently at Blazers media day, Henderson spoke on some of the natural expectations that people might have for him to fill the Lillard-sized hole left in Portland's lineup.

“The only pressure that I have is from myself,” Henderson said, per Geoffrey C. Arnold of Oregon Live. “I’m not trying to be the new Dame, it’s a new era for a reason. I’m here to be Scoot Henderson.”

Scoot Henderson was selected by the Blazers with the third pick in this past NBA draft after spending the previous season with the NBA G League Ignite. At 6'2″ and 195 pounds, Henderson already has an NBA caliber frame and is one of the, if not the most explosive athlete in his entire draft class.

Still, his style of play will figure to differ drastically from that of Damian Lillard, who was known more for his long-range shooting prowess than his explosive drives to the rim. Henderson will have some intriguing new teammates to play alongside, including Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams III, both of whom were either acquired for Lillard or as a direct result of the Lillard trade.

The Blazers' season is set to tip off on October 25 against the Los Angeles Clippers.