NBA Draft Top Performance Series: Cam Whitmore
In this story:
The idea behind the top performance series is to go back and watch the best, or one of the best, box score games of each NBA Draft prospect's season. Doing so will give us a look at how they performed at their highest individual level and what that might show us about their ceiling as a prospect.
While the March 8 game versus Georgetown was not Cam Whitmore’s highest scoring output of the season, it was one of the most efficient, as he got his 19 points on just 11 field goal attempts and showcased his only double-double performance of the season.
This was also on the tail end of a really nice four-game stretch to end the season for Whitmore, before ultimately losing to Creighton in what would be the last game of the season for Villanova.
Offense
This game seemed to truly be a great example of the role and impact Whitmore could have on the offensive end of the court at the next level.
Not only did the 18-year-old knock down three-of-five 3-point attempts, but each was in a different play type, and overall the jump shot looked fluid and smooth.
If there was one thing that was easy to buy more stock of after watching the game, and after looking deeper into the numbers where he was 40% on catch-and-shoot only, it was his ability to space the floor and knock down shots for an NBA organization.
Combining that with his quick twitch explosion is going to make Whitmore a nightmare for teams to close out to. He showcased a bursty first step a couple times in this game and also was able to show top of the class vertical pop with a transition lob finish.
There is more of an art to playing off the ball than many like to give credit, and Whitmore showed this with some beautifully timed cuts to the basket, even if he didn’t get the reward of the pass and finish.
Where he must work on his craft is actually with this relocation along the 3-point line to get more of those open catch-and-shoot opportunities.
Another area Whitmore could be more impactful is on the offensive boards. He showed that value in this particular game, but the overall numbers for the season, just 21 total offensive rebounds, leaves much to be desired.
Where Whitmore will struggle day one in the NBA, and has the most area for growth, is true creation for himself and his teammates.
There were simply not any possessions in this game where this even flashed to give you anything to go on in terms of projecting what he might be able to provide at the next level. With that said, the Villanova offense also didn’t seem to prioritize this or him in general either.
For now, at least, it seems his off the bounce game will be more attacking closeouts and unsettled defenses with straight line explosiveness and power.
Defense
While the offense in this particular game felt like a true representation of Whitmore, it did not feel like that was the case for his defensive impact.
We did get a couple good examples of his on-ball defense, which feels like his best day-one contribution on this end of the court and should provide plenty of versatility considering his size and strength.
The powerful wing averaged just under 1.5 steals per game on the season, but did not showcase that defensive playmaking against Georgetown.
His overall defensive awareness was okay but has some real area for growth moving forward and this might be the most easily improved area for Whitmore to round out his defensive value.
Where the Odenton, Maryland native is really going to struggle is navigating screens. Whitmore simply does not have the hip flexibility to bend around these screens off the ball and on the ball he seemed slow to recognize the screen and would often run right into the screener.
While off the ball screen navigation improvement will come from better awareness and improved hip flexibility, presumably being worked on during his pre-draft process, his on the ball navigation could grow from some simple improvements with his fundamentals.
It should also be noted that Whitmore playing in a defensive scheme that simply switches these screens at a high rate would eliminate much of the worry with his screen navigation.
Ceiling
Bottom end No. 2 or high end No. 3. Off-ball offensive option with defensive impact to compliment.
Want to join the discussion? Like Draft Digest on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest NBA Draft news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.