Will Damian Lillard Eventually Be Blazers' Best Point Guard Since Terry Porter?

In last month's NBA draft, the Portland Trail Blazers selected Weber State's Damian Lillard with the sixth overall pick.

Lillard could surely develop into a fine player for the Blazers and possibly the franchise's best point guard since Terry Porter. 

Drafted by the Blazers 24th overall back in 1985, Porter would spend 10 seasons running the offensive for the team.

During his career in Portland, Porter was named an All-Star twice and teamed with Hall of Fame backcourt mate Clyde Drexler to lead the Blazers to NBA Finals appearances in 1990 and 1992.

Porter is undoubtedly a Blazers legend and remains the team's career assists leader with 5,319.

Since Porter left Portland as free agent in 1995, the Blazers have employed a smorgasbord of starting point guards such as Rod Strickland, Kenny Anderson, Damon Stoudamire and, more recently, Andre Miller and Raymond Felton.

Will Lillard end up trumping those guys and become the Blazers' best point guard since the Porter era?

He absolutely has the potential to become a perennial NBA All-Star as he can can score at will. The Oakland, California native averaged 24.5 points last season, second-best in the nation.

Lillard has the ability to blow past his defender, get to the rim and finish strong. He's extremely athletic—maybe not quite on the level of a Derrick Rose or Russell Westbrook—but athletic nonetheless. 

Lillard is also a gifted shooter. Last season, he shot 46.7 percent from the field, 40.9 percent from three-point land and a phenomenal 88.7 percent from the foul line. 

He only averaged 4.0 assists per game—nothing to get excited about—but that particular stat should rise in Portland since he'll have an All-Star big man like LaMarcus Aldridge to dish the ball to every night.

A knock on Lillard is that he didn't play against college basketball's greatest competition, spending his career in the Big Sky Conference, which definitely isn't the Big Ten or ACC.

However, it shouldn't take long for him to show the NBA world that he was worthy of being a top-six draft pick, even though he didn't compete against the nation's top talent.    

Expect Lillard to emerge as the league's next elite point guard in a few years and eventually go down as one of the greatest players in Trail Blazers history like Porter before him.