Despite losing Damian Lillard, Scoot Henderson remains unfazed heading into the upcoming 2023-2024 NBA season. As members of the basketball community should certainly be aware, this NBA offseason has been filled with trade discussions involving Damian Lillard leaving the Portland Trail Blazers.
Although some presumed that Lillard would change his mind, or that the Blazers would be unwilling to trade him, Dame was recently moved to the Milwaukee Bucks. While he initially wanted to join the Miami Heat, there is no denying that the Bucks gave him an excellent chance to play for an NBA title.
Now that Dame is gone from Portland, the fanbase is understandably concerned and wondering about what their team could look like in his absence. Scoot Henderson recently sent out a statement dismissing the loss of Damian Lillard and showing impressive confidence in his own abilities. With that being said, let us take a closer look and find out more.
Does Scoot Henderson want to replace Damian Lillard for the Portland Trail Blazers?
Any professional athlete who enters the NBA tends to set quite high expectations for themselves and dislike being compared to their predecessors. That is likely what Scoot Henderson is going through at this point in time. Despite being a hyped-up draft prospect and a potential star in the league, Henderson already got a taste of the business side of the NBA through the Damian Lillard trade.
Although he has yet to play in an official NBA game for the Portland Trail Blazers, Scoot believes that he can make a name for himself in the NBA and does not want to constantly be compared to Damian Lillard, “I’m not trying to be the new Dame… I’m trying to be Scoot Henderson.”
“I’m not trying to be the new Dame… I’m trying to be Scoot Henderson.”
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) October 3, 2023
While the majority of fans appeared to admire his confidence in his own abilities, others mocked him for making such a heavy statement without having accomplished much for the Blazers at this point in time. In this situation, we really can’t blame the fans for being skeptical or Scoot for being sure of his own abilities.
In any case, we now know that Henderson does not want to be considered the next Damian Lillard and wants to carve out his own identity. We look forward to finding out how his rookie season with the Blazers goes down.
