Seventeen teams passed on Cam Whitmore in the draft. Now he’s the Summer League MVP.
Whitmore averaged 19.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.5 steals in his six games in Las Vegas, as his Houston Rockets reached the championship game—they lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers. After No. 4 pick Amen Thompson suffered an injury in the first game, and Houston shut down Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason after two games, Whitmore carried his squad.
It’s a marked difference from draft night when Whitmore dropped all the way to the No. 20 pick after being projected as a high lottery pick. No one knows exactly why he fell so far. It could have been bad team interviews, troubling medical information or Whitmore’s lack of passing. But he showed out in Summer League, demonstrating why he was once so highly touted.
Now, Whitmore thinks he can win Rookie of the Year.
He told ESPN, “Not just the skillset, I think I have the confidence overall,” and called himself “the most explosive athlete” in the draft.
Whitmore isn’t the only one who believes in his potential. 76ers team president Daryl Morey hinted that the team tried to move up to select Whitmore, who played just down the road from the Sixers at Villanova.
If he does win Rookie of the Year, he’ll be following in the footsteps of Damian Lillard, who won Summer League MVP in 2012 in advance of his Rookie of the Year campaign. Blake Griffin also doubled up, winning Summer League MVP in 2009 and Rookie of the Year in 2011, but he missed the 2009-10 season after a preseason injury.
Most recently, last year’s Summer League MVP, Keegan Murray, made the All-Rookie first team and set the all-time rookie record for three-pointers.
While it’s no guarantee of success, Whitmore’s summer performance sent a strong message that some of the teams that passed on him may regret it. If they don’t already.
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