Cam Whitmore not fazed after NBA Draft slide to Houston Rockets
At the 2023 NBA Draft, the Houston Rockets selected Cam Whitmore. The problem was that it was not at pick No. 4. Instead, it was at pick No. 20. The Villanova product had a historic free fall on draft night in comparison to his predraft top-ten expectations.
Despite draft night going array, Whitmore was determined to not let his slide overlook the fact that he achieve his goal of being drafted.
“Different feeling, but then again, it’s the same feeling, Whitmore said. “I’ve been overlooked a lot of times in my life, so it didn’t really faze me. I’m just really happy to be in the NBA. I’ve been dreaming about that all my life. Just really grateful for my parents being there, my friends, family. I mean, everybody is here. The best day of my life. It’s just really the start.”
Whitmore’s fall was a culmination of several factors: Injury concerns, poor workouts and bad interviews. It is unclear how bad any of those individual concerns were, but the issues at hand clearly dissuaded teams from selecting the athletic wing.
Whitmore will now be one of the many draft night sliders that use their fall as a form of motivation.
“It motivates me to like 150 percent,” he said. “It’s just something where I’ve got to rethink, go in the next day, new mind, free mind. Coming into that organization with a chip on my shoulder, have a lot of motivation on my mind.”
If the concerns surrounding Whitmore end up being smoke without fire, the Houston Rockets hit a homerun.
Whitmore is simply more talented than the average No. 20 pick. It is honestly that simple. On top of that, the Rockets were able to draft Amen Thompson at No. 4, so it’s a realistic possibility the Rockets walked away from the 2023 NBA Draft will two of the best players from the class.
If that wasn’t enough, the Rockets walked into draft night with a solid young core surrounding Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun, and more. It is safe to say the future is bright in Houston.
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