NBA DRAFT

November 18, 2020

Isaiah Stewart

Q. If you'd start out with some opening remarks about what you bring to the Blazers.

ISAIAH STEWART: From day one what I bring to the Blazers is my energy, my motor and work ethic, rebounding, loving to play defense and doing all the little things that may not show up in the stat sheet.

Q. Just wanted to get your thoughts on playing with someone like Damian Lillard. Chances are you probably haven't played with someone of that stature in your career just yet. What do you think you can learn off him? How can you play off him, and what impact can you make alongside him?

ISAIAH STEWART: I feel like I can learn a lot from Damian Lillard. He's a great vet. He's been in this league for a long time. And coming in, that's a guy whose brain I will be picking 24/7 just because he has so much knowledge about the game, and he's been to a place where I'm trying to go.

Q. Who's the first player you want to match up with?

ISAIAH STEWART: It's not really a particular player that runs through my mind. I'm looking forward to every matchup day in and day out at the highest level now.

It's going to be great players in my position every game, so I'm looking forward to every matchup every night. I'm just excited.

Q. Who are some of your players that you looked up to as a young player coming up in AAU or different levels of basketball?

ISAIAH STEWART: A lot of guys I watch now are in the league that I compare my game to and take things away are Bam Adebayo and Montrezl Harrell.

Q. You know the history of Rochester basketball. You made it ahead of John Wallace. You're the highest drafted Rochester native ever. How does that feel?

ISAIAH STEWART: It feels great. I'm truly blessed. I'm giving all the glory to God.

Q. Tell us what it was like tonight. You worked so hard with coach Scott Fitch leading up to this to get a higher spot in the draft. To go 16th, to go to the Pistons, did you think you were there with Detroit leading up to this? How close did you feel Detroit was going to be to selecting you and then to know that that was going to be the case at 16?

ISAIAH STEWART: My agent just kept me in tune the whole time, throughout the whole draft, and would just update me and let me know what was going on. When I heard that Detroit was going to be picking me, I was -- the Portland Trail Blazers were going to be picking me, I was just ecstatic. I was excited, and I just couldn't explain my emotions.

Q. And to have your family there with you, what was that moment like hearing your name with your family around you?

ISAIAH STEWART: It was great. Family means a lot to me, and they helped me get to where I'm at today. To have my family around in one of the biggest moments of my life was just great tonight. It was great to enjoy this night with them, and it's just a great feeling.

Q. How much did the fact that the season ended the way it did for you guys and you didn't have a chance to compete in the tournament and get an opportunity to compete at that next level of pressure, how did you feel about that? What was your emotion about that?

ISAIAH STEWART: I was definitely frustrated not being able to compete in the NCAA Tournament. As many know, we had a down year at University of Washington, but I have no regrets. I enjoyed my stay there. It was great teammates, great coaches, and I learned a lot in my one year there.