Cam Whitmore: 6'6" 235 lbs: 12.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 0.7 apg, 1.4 spg, 47.8% fg%, 34.3% 3%, 70.3% ft%
Cam Whitmore is an athletic specimen who projects to thrive in the modern NBA game which prioritizes pace and space. Whitmore has the size and shooting that equates to success in positional basketball and couples it with elite vertical pop and physical strength. Whitmore played for a veteran laden team with a new coach and began the year with an injured thumb. He still showed flashes of brilliance throughout his abbreviated year. Whitmore tends to drive when dribbling right and shoot off the bounce when dribbling left, yet, despite that being on scouting reports, was able to gain advantages with those moves. His shot is smooth and repeatable, earning the label of excellent as a spot up threat per synergy's percentile tiers (86th percentile), and 85th percentile on unguarded catch and shoots. Whitmore also was 90th percentile in isolations. Those are just numbers, but what it means to me, is that Whitmore can win with athleticism, creating advantages to score for himself and play off of the ball and space the floor. defensively, late in the year, Whitmore spearheaded an improving Villanova team at the point of the attack on D. Whitmore uses his size and strength to hound ball handlers and often took the best wing or ball handler to disrupt rhythm. Whitmore reminds me of a better Miles Bridges with some Jalen Brown to his game.
Strengths:
Explosive athlete with NBA ready frame.
Diverse offensive game.
Can play 2-4.
Attacks the rim in half court as well as the full court. (77th percentile at the rim).
Very confident.
Good shooter off of the bounce and off of the catch. (86th percentile on spot-ups, and 85th percentile on unguarded catch and shoots). 91st percentile on "early jumpers".
Can defend multiple positions.
Excellent off ball cutter.
Can play off one or two feet.
Should draw fouls with more space to drive and his powerful build.
Weaknesses:
Can play in a rush and turn the ball over or not take good shots.
Hardly passed out to shooters with his driving gravity. Double as many turnovers as assists.
Wants to drive right far more often than left.
Didn't show too many midrange game flashes but Villanova typically passed or posted up when entering midrange area.
Did not shoot great from the FT line.
Swing Skills: Whitmore, in my eyes, is a top 5 talent who can easily sharpen up skills he did not get to demonstrate or lacked for the college game (passing and shooting more free throws) to turn himself into a potentail star rather than a high floor starter a la Miles Bridges. Whitmore can become better as a 3 level scorer and a more consistent point of attack defender, he could follow the career path of someone like Jaylen Brown, who is a co-star or a very high level 2nd option. In the NBA Playoffs, very few players play that cannot shoot or defend and few play that don't demonstrate good athleticism to raise their floors. He has those prerequisites in spades and solely needs to sharpen what parts of the game spacing in the NBA allows that college did not in order for him to become a potential star in the NBA. I would not be shocked to see Whitmore become a 24 ppg, 6 rpg, 3 apg 1.5 spg 38% 3%, 79% ft% type of NBA player in 5 years.