I haven't watched the Summer League this year. Can Whitmore help improve the defense? If so he needs to be on the NBA roster. How many all star level players play in the G-League, 5%?
Holes? Cam is a top 10 prospect in this draft. There were no 11-20 draft pick that is better than Cam. 10. Mavericks draft Cason Wallace (Kentucky) – Traded to Thunder 11. Magic draft Jett Howard (Michigan) 12. Thunder draft Dereck Lively II (Duke) – Traded to Mavericks 13. Raptors draft Gradey Dick (Kansas) 14. Pelicans draft Jordan Hawkins (Connecticut) 15. Hawks draft Kobe Bufkin (Michigan) 16. Jazz draft Keyonte George (Baylor) 17. Lakers draft Jalen Hood-Schifino (Indiana) 18. Heat draft Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA) 19. Warriors draft Brandin Podziemski (Santa Clara) 20. Rockets draft Cam Whitmore (Villanova) none of these players are better than Cam and played better than him in Summer League
Holes? Cam is a top 10 prospect in this draft. There were no 11-20 draft pick that was better than Cam. 10. Mavericks draft Cason Wallace (Kentucky) – Traded to Thunder 11. Magic draft Jett Howard (Michigan) 12. Thunder draft Dereck Lively II (Duke) – Traded to Mavericks 13. Raptors draft Gradey Dick (Kansas) 14. Pelicans draft Jordan Hawkins (Connecticut) 15. Hawks draft Kobe Bufkin (Michigan) 16. Jazz draft Keyonte George (Baylor) 17. Lakers draft Jalen Hood-Schifino (Indiana) 18. Heat draft Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA) 19. Warriors draft Brandin Podziemski (Santa Clara) 20. Rockets draft Cam Whitmore (Villanova) none of these players are better than Cam and played better than him in Summer League
This is a big year for Jalen. Lots of pressure for him to perform well We have Amen, Whitmore, and to some extent KPJ breathing on his neck And if any of those outperform him, we’re looking at a trade package that features Thrilla
Im still kind of scratching my head at what the heck happened. Unless Cam has some serious skeletons in his closet it makes no sense at 14 to 19 to not jump on this talent. At worst Cam is Terrence Williams with effort.
Heaven forbid our players work at being better players and play G LEAGUE a few games. Y’all are soft as hell if you think Cam is too good for G league or that there is something wrong with letting him get some reps there because today he isn’t better than Dillon brooks, Jalen, Jabari, Tari, KPJ, Amen and maybe even Tate and those are all guys vying for those same “2-4/wing” minutes. I love Cam in Houston and am so glad he fell to us - I think he will be a legit rotational player at worst….but he is still a ball stopper and a black hole passer today as an 19yr old kid until he can demonstrate otherwise because that’s much of what I’ve seen him do in college and it’s even been on display in summer league a bit(although he has been a more willing passer than college from what I’ve seen in a few games).
This kid has so much potential at both ends. Anyone continuing to harp on the black hole narrative is just hating at this point. He's a little shot-happy but he's 19, super talented, and playing in Summer League. Let him launch up a few shots. 8 steals today was nuts, he's been playing passing lanes like a Free Safety and has active hands/instincts on D. Whitmore/Tari/Amen/Jabari is going to be a scary combination defensively in a few years, if not sooner.
He's had some tunnelvision and signs of slow decisionmaking but overall it's not been as bad as I worried it might be. I'm pleased with his effort level and defense. Worst case he ends up as a better-shooting, better-defensive KJ Martin, IMO, which would be a very nice player to have.
Whitmore was a black hole in college, but I had high hopes for him given he was the best player on the USA U18 team before the college season.
In comparison with the top 6 selections, he finishes with the best PPG and finished tied for first among errrbody in steals per game. 19 ppg and 3.5 steals, Will I tell you some of those top 3 picks only played 1 or 2 games? No, that would ruin my agenda.
To be honest I think it's an insult to Whitmore to be compared to KJ Martin. KJ Martin looked like a total scrub when the Rox got him, couldn't shoot, defend, reb or do anything on the court.
Cam showed today that he has huge potential to develop into a 2-way player who can shoot, pound, and force turnovers. At just 19 we got a good one. The challenge will be how to get him development minutes that translate into working on his weakeness, which is more about feel and court vision at this point. G-League is not a perfect fit for Cam but maybe the coaches can carve out a non-traditional structured plan that focuses on the things Cam needs to work on.
Watching Whitmore through these summer league games, it looks like he's a player who came in with blinders on, who has been coached to look to pass and take good shots and is trying really hard to follow that guidance. Very encouraging.
Whitmore is going to make Brooks obsolete by year 3….another reason why that contract was completely ridiculous.
