My opinion on Cam Whitmore’s NBA future? I really don’t have one.
That’s different, by the way. I virtually always have an opinion on the professional future of Big 5 players. Been wrong plenty of times, a little off sometimes, spot on with my share. But I have a guess.
Whitmore, no idea. Does his great explosiveness translate to the next level? How long will that take? What’s his role?
Don’t know.
I texted a few NBA scouts, asking if I was wrong to not have an opinion.
“You are not wrong at all,” one said.
“I think that’s fair,” another said.
The NBA drafts on potential, and Whitmore has loads of it, so he’s been rising up mock drafts, from top 10 to maybe top five. He could end up as the highest Villanova draft choice of our lifetime. Given that possibility, it’s weird to have no opinion.
“He’s built for a pro day,” one scout said of seeing Whitmore rise lately. Just not rising on this scout’s personal board: “I just don’t love on-ball players that don’t read the game well and xxx make others better.”
Ouch. So that’s it? Nah, not at all. Only takes one team to like you.
“I think he’ll be a legit scorer,” a third scout said. “What else he does, I’m not sure. Super young.”
This I do know: Whitmore did the right thing declaring for the draft. He needs to learn the nuances of the game, but the idea that he should learn that in college isn’t factual. They’re ready to pay him (even more than NIL money), and they’ll teach him. That part gets buried sometimes, how young NBA players these days practically have personal tutors.
Whitmore’s sole season on the Main Line wasn’t a bust, just call it a disappointment (like for the team itself), since the expectations were so sky high, especially after the McDonald’s All-American starred for Team USA in the big summer continental competition for his age group. He was just shy of 6-foot-6 in bare feet as measured at the NBA combine, but Whitmore’s athletic skills make that height a bit of a nonfactor, since his vertical jump was 40½ inches at the combine, tied for third overall.
Maybe the disappointment at Villanova stemmed from the fact that his explosiveness was expected to put great pressure on opposing defenses, but the Wildcats didn’t have the full lineup available enough to create pressure all over the court, which meant defenses could devote necessary resources to Whitmore.
He showed his toughness, coming back from a seven-week absence after thumb surgery to start the season. You just can’t give him bonus points for being a Villanova player when Villanova players have been undervalued in the draft, since he wasn’t on the Main Line long enough to become a Villanova player.
I thought it was a feather in Kyle Neptune’s cap that as a first-year head coach he didn’t just give Whitmore a free ride, that he was clearly coaching him hard as long as he was there. But the skills Whitmore arrived with are roughly the skills he left with. That’s how it works with one-and-done players.
Whitmore showed a willingness to play defense and was a good defensive rebounder. His effective field-goal percentage would have been last among the rotation players on the 2018 Villanova NCAA title team, but all of those players were helping the rest get easier shots.
Maybe his most important number was the one the more upbeat scout mentioned … his age. Whitmore doesn’t turn 19 until July 8. At Whitmore’s age now, Mikal Bridges hadn’t played a college game yet. Josh Hart would be a year away from being a regular ‘Nova starter.
Hart might be an interesting comparison, despite a different body type, in the sense that the athleticism has to translate into an NBA role. It has for Hart after a historic Villanova career. Hart had a better assist rate at ‘Nova, all four of his seasons, and a better effective field-goal percentage. His defense became elite while he was on the Main Line. (Ask Buddy Hield.)
But Whitmore showed up with more raw skills. So NBA teams will have to be patient. I do think he’ll be in the league for a long time. How will it all play out?
Beats me.
