You see him in fast breaks already with a head of steam and momentum against back peddling defenders tell you he has a quick first step against set defenders? How does that work? Many high speed freight trains aren't quick twitch first step guys with handles. Corey Magatte is a good example. Every time Cam is passed the ball in a half court set where the defense isn't collapsed yet he tries a couple of dribbles and passes off.
I can see it kinda. Melo has height over Cam I think but Cam is definitely more explosive. Melo had a deeper iso bag coming into the league though
I am not nearly as knowledgable as some of you, but to me the comps of Antony Edwards or Jaylen Brown seem pretty good. That doesn't mean, that he will ever be as good a player as either of them, but all of their games rely most on their athleticism and scoring. Like Brown Cam is also already a great 3pt shooter (it took Ant longer) and like Brown (and to an extent also Ant) at the start of his career he is not really good at setting up other players. I don't really like talking about ceilings - but I wouldn't expect him to get as good as either of these guys. But he already seems to be instant offense off the bench and he can score in bunches in short periods of time. He needs to play better within a system and cut out mistakes. But I couldn't be happier with him right now.
Jaylen Brown is a reasonable comp. Ant isn't just because of physical limitations. Ant has Cam's strength and explosion AND Green's quickness and lateral agility. Ant is the closest to prime Jordan when it comes to effective athleticism we have seen.
Spoiler NBADraftNet: Caron Butler/Jae Crowder “NBADraftRoom”: Jerry Stackhouse/Justise Winslow DKNetwork/Draft Kings: Jae Crowder B/R: Miles Bridges B/R: Bennedict Mathurin ClutchPoints: Miles Bridges/Keldon Johnson/Caron Butler/Gerald Wallace Lineups: Keldon Johnson NBA.com: Miles Bridges/Keldon Johnson/Jae Crowder SI: Justin Anderson/Jae Crowder CBS Sports: Miles Bridges ESPN: High-end comp: Miles Bridges | Low-end comp: Kenyon Martin Jr.
Don't kill me because I came up with this in 30 seconds and didn't put too much thought into it but how about JR Smith in Lebron James body?
Barkley is another interesting comparison. Cam Whitmore is a very unique player. Usually, the uber explosive guys who do not have the dexterity of an Anthony Edwards settle into being a role player. Think of a guy like Jeff Green when he was younger - super explosive runner and leaper, extremely strong, but never had the hand/wrist/upper body dexterity to play multiple roles in an offense. However unlike Jeff Green and others like him, Cam actually has a pure shot and you can see the handle becoming better with time. Very encouraging, and I think it means that he will end up being a very unique player. A guy who can score 25+ and defend but who absolutely needs a creator or two alongside him to maximize his talents. If Barkley and Klay Thompson were combined (little less athleticism than Barkley, little less shooting than Klay), that might resemble Cam Whitmore.
Beat me to it. This is the one I thought of. Roughly the same size, athleticism and handles. Cam has a better 3 ball.
I mean sure Ant is a lot more agile than Cam will probably ever be - but I still like the comp. Both score by aggressively driving to the basket or pulling up from three with the occassional midrange shot in between. Both look to score first and second (Ant got better at this). Both are more dynamic than tricky. Sure, Ant has more tools in his repertoire and thats why he went first and Cam 20th, but from an archetype standpoint I still like the comp a lot.
Given his build and natural skillset the comparisons are endless. I think we won't really know until he develops enough to either be a player who scores in iso, pick and roll, or if he gets in a system with a coach who runs sets specifically for him. Right now it's hard to say because Ime really has him playing the PJ Tucker/Battier role offensively where he's just really positioned to space the floor. If you put the ball in his hands though with a coach who built an offense around him right this second I think he'd probably look like Russell Westbrook in the way that he attacks the rim, but has the shooting capability of any good traditional shooting guard. The negatives would be alot of what you get with Westbrook with some ill advised shots, turnovers, and tunnel vision. However Westbrook is still doing that crap and in his 30's. Cam won't even be able to drink a beer after NEXT SEASON. The guy is very very young... But I do feel like if a coach was silly enough to make him their lead guard this season you'd probably get something that looks alot like Westbrook with a 3 point shot. In the future... hell I hope his comp is something between Anthony Edwards and Dwayne Wade (I like that hopeful comparison).
i agree with the russ comp, he's exactly who i was thinking, though maybe a step slower in the open court. Scary that we're even comparing him to young russ, but he has that kind of atheltism with a shot. Imagine combing russ and harden.
You give him Amen's vision and he is unstoppable......no need to do the Harden comparison, he is stronger and jumps higher.
