OKLAHOMA CITY—It’s not exactly that Damian Lillard has a chip on his shoulder or anything, but there is an edge to the NBA prospect who worked out privately for the Raptors Tuesday afternoon.

He comes from a tiny school in a small conference where he was a point guard who was primarily a scorer, and there are questions about his ability to transfer that collegiate talent to the professional ranks.

He knows those questions exist and he’s determined to answer them for anyone who asks. Kind of defiantly.

“I know I can,” he said emphatically in Chicago last week when asked if he could be an NBA point guard. “Playing at Weber State and our offence, they needed me to score points, for us to be successful, I had to score points and I’m willing to do whatever I need to do to win games.

“In the NBA, I’ll be surrounded by NBA-level players and it’ll be more likely for me to make plays for other guys and I won’t be such a dominant offensive player. I won’t have to do as much offensively.”

Lillard remains a person of interest for the Raptors and their No. 8 selection in the June 28 draft. While a group of eight others — notably North Carolina guard Kendall Marshall and Pickering’s Devoe Joseph of Oregon — worked out in a group in the morning, Lillard had a one-man session in the afternoon.

But it’s not as if the Raptors are getting their first look at the 6-foot-3 guard, who averaged 24.5 points and 4.0 assists while shooting 47 per cent from the field and 41 per cent from three-point range as a Weber State junior last season.

Toronto officials saw him work out in California earlier this month and they got to see him again in Chicago last week. They have seen him rocket up some draft charts — he’s seen as the best point guard prospect in the draft — and interviewed him at the draft combine.

What they likely see is a confident young man entirely comfortable with his basketball abilities and his personality and maturity.

“I’ve been away from home, I’ve had an opportunity to grow as a man and not to down talk anyone else in the draft but I’ve got experience over them,” he said. “A lot of them are 19, 20, some 18 years old and I’m 21, going to be 22 this summer.

“I think my maturity is going to help me.”

Whether the Raptors would take a point guard remains to be seen. They have Jose Calderon under contract for one more year but backup Jerryd Bayless is a restricted free agent and there are no other point guards on the roster.

With a need for a small forward and depth at shooting guard, they may want to look elsewhere. But Lillard also knows that this is the perfect time for him to come out.

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“Lot of people think it’s a weaker class as far as point guards. I think it was a prefect year for me to come,” he said. “If it was a great class of point guards it would have been harder for me, coming from Weber State.

“I think it all happened at the right time. I had a good year and it’s not the best class of point guards.”