<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/rockets-news-draftee-cam-whitmore-outlines-poster-plan-with-lebron-james-giannis-antetokounmpo-nba-dream');   ga('set', 'title', 'Rockets draftee Cam Whitmore drops brutally honest LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo NBA dream');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Rockets_news_Cam_Whitmore_drops_brutally_honest_LeBron_James_Giannis_Antetokounmpo_NBA_dream.jpeg"></figure><h1>Rockets draftee Cam Whitmore drops brutally honest LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo NBA dream</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-09-13T19:04:16-07:00">September 13th, 7:04pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-09-13T19:04:16-07:00">September 13th, 7:04pm</time><address><a>James Salmon</a>James is a published author, sports writer and editor from Melbourne, Australia. 'Sport's Greatest Statistical Anomalies' is his book, and aside from being a BRILLIANT read, is testament to his love of all things sport, and in particular stats. A Nets fan, James yearns for the days of yesteryear, when playoffs were all but irrelevant and the likes of Caris Levert and Jarrett Allen were running the show.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Every new draftee to the NBA has dreams of sharing the floor with the likes of LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo. But for <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cam-whitmore-meet-rockets-no-20-pick-2023-nba-draft" rel="noopener">new Rockets forward Cam Whitmore</a>, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/2023-nba-draft-first-round-pick-grades" rel="noopener">20th pick in the 2023 draft</a>, that dream extends beyond just sharing the floor with them. He wants to posterize them.</p><p>Speaking on Playmaker’s “To Inspire”, Whitmore was asked <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1702130654970831275" rel="noopener">who he wanted</a> his first dunk to be on, and who he was most looking forward to locking down on d.</p><p>“First post gotta be like Giannis or Bron,” Whitmore said, “Then I’ll say locking down on defense is Kawhi.”</p><p>Cam Whitmore, a 19-year-old out of Villanova, was expected by many to go earlier than the pick 20 with which he was selected by the Rockets. There were many reasons why – he’s got ball-handling ability, is a solid rebounder, and is a strong off-ball cutter, but it’s his athleticism which really helps him to stand out from the crowd. Whitmore has a clear ability to play above the rim, and his speed and hops allows him to get into positions with relative regularity in which there isn’t a whole lot defenders can do to stop him.</p><p>Evidently, in the NBA those defenders will be a hell of a lot better, but Whitmore is aiming high. LeBron James and in particular Giannis Antetokounmpo are two players who have not often been on the receiving end of posters during their illustrious career. But Cam Whitmore, heading into his first season in the league, is dreaming of changing that.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Rockets draftee Cam Whitmore drops brutally honest LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo NBA dream

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/rockets-news-cam-whitmore-gets-real-on-potential-role-with-rockets-after-winning-summer-league-mvp');   ga('set', 'title', 'Cam Whitmore gets real on potential role with Rockets after winning Summer League MVP');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Rockets-news-Cam-Whitmore-gets-real-on-potential-role-with-Rockets-after-winning-Summer-League-MVP.jpg"></figure><h1>Cam Whitmore gets real on potential role with Rockets after winning Summer League MVP</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-09-06T15:50:11-07:00">September 6th, 3:50pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-09-06T15:50:11-07:00">September 6th, 3:50pm</time><address><a>Jack Winter</a>Jack Winter is a veteran NBA writer and editor based on the West Coast. He currently lives in Oakland, covering the last legs of the Golden State Warriors' dynasty.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Cam Whitmore played like the top-five pick at Las Vegas Summer League he was once supposed to be. The Houston Rockets rookie <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-news-cam-whitmore-summer-league-mvp-awards" rel="noopener">took home MVP honors</a> of the July festivities in Sin City, leading his team to the title game while averaging 19.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.0 assists per game on workable efficiency. Not bad for <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-rockets-rookie-cam-whitmores-draft-slide-linked-villanova-coach-kyle-neptune" rel="noopener">draft night’s biggest loser</a>, right?</p><p>But just because Whitmore enjoyed the type of immediate Summer League success that sometimes portends stardom hardly means he’ll play a major role for the Rockets during his NBA debut. The No. 20 overall selection of the draft, in fact, seems almost certain to spend portions of his rookie season in the G League, stuck behind Dillon Brooks, Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason, Jae’Sean Tate and fellow first-round pick Amen Thompson on the depth chart as Houston looks finally climb from the depths of the Western Conference.</p><p>As unofficial preparations for 2023-24 continue with training camp on the horizon, though, Whitmore will nevertheless <a href="https://theathletic.com/4836680/2023/09/06/cam-whitmore-rockets-summer-league-mvp/?source=nbatw" rel="noopener">do all he can</a> to ingratiate himself to new Rockets coach Ime Udoka and his coaching staff.</p><p>“I’d say the focus for me has been just trying to learn my role. Whatever the coaching staff wants me to do, I’ll do it,” Whitmore told The Athletic’s Kelly Iko of his focus leading up to the season. “If they mention something to me, I’ll make sure it’s taken care of. I’m all ears in training camp.”</p><p>His impressive play at Summer League notwithstanding, Whitmore’s draft-night fall from a viable option for Houston at No. 4 overall toward the bottom of the first round is an indication of the steep learning curve he’s poised to face at the next level. Lacking the two-way feel and precocious knowledge befitting most instant-impact rookies, Whitmore was always considered a long-term play as a draft prospect, teams forced to bet his schematic understanding and processing speed would eventually catch up to his rare blend of physical prowess and burgeoning skill.</p><p>Summer League proved that Whitmore already has the chops to get regular playing time in the NBA. On a developing team with no hopes of nabbing a spot in the play-in tournament, Whitmore would get ample run as a first-year player, finding his way as a ball-mover and team defender while sopping up usage with off-dribble jumpers and hard-charging drives to the rim.</p><p>The Rockets have a mandate from owner Tilman Fertitta to take major strides in 2023-24, though, one likely to push Udoka to prioritize his team’s place in the standings over in-game development from young players like Whitmore—a dynamic that could lead to diminishing future returns. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/rockets-biggest-amen-thompson-concern-2023-nba-summer-league" rel="noopener">Even Thompson</a>, the top prize of Houston’s rookie class, is bound to have his minutes somewhat squeezed by Houston’s glut of playable veterans and established young stalwarts.</p><p>Either way, Whitmore’s mindset is the right one. Leaning on the urgings of coaches is a prudent approach for any rookie, let alone a 19-year-old with all the raw, rough-edged talent to eventually become a star.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Cam Whitmore gets real on potential role with Rockets after winning Summer League MVP

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/rockets-news-cam-whitmore-reacts-to-disrespect-of-being-picked-no-20-overall');   ga('set', 'title', 'Exclusive: Cam Whitmore reacts to ‘disrespect’ of being picked No. 20 overall');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Cam-Whitmore-Houston-Rockets.jpg"><figcaption>CP</figcaption></figure><h1>Exclusive: Cam Whitmore reacts to ‘disrespect’ of being picked No. 20 overall</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-08-10T13:29:41-07:00">August 10th, 1:29pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-08-10T13:33:26-07:00">August 10th, 1:33pm</time><address><a>Tomer Azarly</a>Tomer Azarly is in his seventh season as the LA Clippers beat writer for ClutchPoints. From the Lob City era to the Kawhi Leonard-Paul George era, he brings you everything you need to know about the Clippers.In his off time, Tomer likes to play basketball, video games, and draw.You can follow his Twitter for all Clippers content below:</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Exclusive</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Houston Rockets had a very successful 2023 NBA Draft, and not only because they landed Amen Thompson at No. 4 overall. With the 20th pick in the Draft, Houston also selected Villanova forward Cam Whitmore.</p><p>Whitmore was highly touted entering the draft and was expected to go in the top 10 of the 2023 Draft, but fell all the way to the Rockets at No. 20. Interestingly enough, Houston acquired the option to swap their 2023 first round pick swap with the LA Clippers in the Luke Kennard deal at the February NBA trade deadline.</p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1681016973298216960" rel="noopener">Cam Whitmore was a man on a mission</a> during the NBA 2K24 Summer League, feeling slighted and disrespected that he dropped 10 spots in the draft. He finished the summer exhibition tournament winning MVP, 19.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 2.5 steals on 44.7 percent shooting from the field.</p><p>Whitmore spoke with ClutchPoints after Summer league about bei-ng disrespected in the Draft and having something to prove.</p><p><b>Tomer Azarly: You play harder than seemingly everyone out there. Where does that mentality come from?</b></p><p>Cam Whitmore: Just playing hard comes from my background. My parents, my teammates, my future teammates, previous teammates. Everybody just building me up to my level and telling me who I am, reminding me who I am. I’m just going out there and playing hard.</p><p><b>You won Summer League MVP. What’s next for you?</b></p><p>This is just the start, the beginning. The start of me showing showcasing my talent, showcasing my abilities that I am a great pick, I’m a top pick, and I’m here for a reason.</p><p><b>How much pride do you take in the fact that nobody can outmuscle you and you’re only 19?</b></p><p>I got a lot of confidence in myself, but I know nobody can outmuscle me and if you have that confidence, it’ll pay off in the end.</p><p><b>What’s been the feedback from some of <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/rockets-news-cam-whitmore-bold-claim-should-scare-victor-wembanyama" rel="noopener">the Houston Rockets</a> coaches about your game and what they want you to work on?</b></p><p>They just told me play hard, play together, and also they tell me every day to just play my game. That’s really the only thing he tells me. Just play my game and everything will come to me.</p><p><b>What would you say is your greatest strength and what would you say is your biggest weakness that you’d like to work on?</b></p><p>I would say work on my midrange game and getting my teammates involved more, find the open shot.</p><p><b>You play with an aggression that appears to be unmatched out there like you have a chip on you shoulder. Do you think that energy and aggression you play with is one of your best traits?</b></p><p>Most definitely. The way I was picked and disrespected from the start, from the beginning, I just have that chip on my shoulder and that motivation has allowed me to display my talents on the floor.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Exclusive: Cam Whitmore reacts to ‘disrespect’ of being picked No. 20 overall

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/rockets-news-cam-whitmore-bold-claim-should-scare-victor-wembanyama');   ga('set', 'title', 'Rockets stud Cam Whitmore’s strong Rookie of the Year claim should scare Victor Wembanyama, Scoot Henderson');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Rockets-news-Cam-Whitmore_s-strong-Rookie-of-the-Year-claim-should-scare-Victor-Wembanyama-Scoot-Henderson.jpg"></figure><h1>Rockets stud Cam Whitmore’s strong Rookie of the Year claim should scare Victor Wembanyama, Scoot Henderson</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-07-18T15:28:25-07:00">July 18th, 3:28pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-07-18T15:28:25-07:00">July 18th, 3:28pm</time><address><a>Paolo Songco</a>A father of two over-energetic boys, Paolo has been a writer for ClutchPoints for many years. His passion lies in all things NBA and he has a knack for speaking his mind in his articles -- even when at times it gets him into trouble with the fans. Controversial? Maybe. Excellent writer? Definitely.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Once the new season begins, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/adam-silver-offers-opinion-wild-victor-wembanyama-britney-spears-madness" rel="noopener">all eyes will be</a> on San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama. To a certain extent, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-spurs-regret-victor-wembanyama-over-scoot-henderson" rel="noopener">the same can be said</a> for Scoot Henderson of the Portland Trail Blazers. However, one young stud who’s looking to spoil the party is Houston Rockets small forward Cam Whitmore.</p><p>Fresh off his NBA Summer League MVP title, Whitmore has now come out with a bold declaration that should put both Wembanyama and Henderson on notice:</p><p>“A goal of mine is to definitely <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1681406432296546309" rel="noopener">win Rookie of the Year</a>,” Whitmore said. “… I have the confidence overall. I think I have the biggest skillset in the draft right now, and I think I’m the most different type of athlete.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"I have the confidence overall. I think I have the biggest skillset in the draft right now, and I think I'm the most different type of athlete."</p><p>Rockets' Summer League MVP Cam Whitmore believes he can be the Rookie of the Year 🚀</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNNBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNNBA</a>)<a href="https://t.co/SjAHESxUcD">pic.twitter.com/SjAHESxUcD</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1681406432296546309?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 18, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Can he actually do it? Can Whitmore shock the league and outperform both Wembanyama and Henderson, among others, in their debut season?</p><p>Based on what we’ve seen from the Rockets rookie in the Summer League, you have to say that this lofty goal isn’t beyond him. Whitmore averaged 20.4 points and 5.6 rebounds a night with 3.0 steals in five games played in Las Vegas en route to the MVP title. He also led Houston to the NBA Summer League Finals, where unfortunately, they fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night.</p><p>Then again, it’s going to be much different in the NBA. The level of competition will increase exponentially once the regular season begins and we shall all see if Whitmore can back up his bold claim.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Rockets stud Cam Whitmore’s strong Rookie of the Year claim should scare Victor Wembanyama, Scoot Henderson

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/sixers-news-daryl-morey-trade-up-for-cam-whitmore-2023-nba-draft');   ga('set', 'title', 'Did Sixers’ Daryl Morey just hint at trying to trade up for Cam Whitmore in 2023 NBA Draft?');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/sixers-news-did-daryl-morey-just-hint-at-trying-to-trade-up-for-cam-whitmore-in-2023-nba-draft.jpg"></figure><h1>Did Sixers’ Daryl Morey just hint at trying to trade up for Cam Whitmore in 2023 NBA Draft?</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-07-18T13:25:32-07:00">July 18th, 1:25pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-07-18T13:25:32-07:00">July 18th, 1:25pm</time><address><a>DJ Foster</a>D.J. Foster is a writer and high school basketball coach in Oceanside, CA. His work has been featured at ESPN, The Ringer, NBC and more. You can follow D.J. on Twitter @fosterdj3.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey is renowned for finding value picks in the NBA Draft, and perhaps there was no greater value than Villanova forward Cam Whitmore.</p><p>Unfortunately for the Sixers, the team didn’t have its first-round pick, and the team’s two second-round picks in the 2023 NBA Draft were rescinded by the NBA after an investigation determined that the team violated the league’s tampering rules in its pursuit to sign P.J. Tucker and Danuel House Jr.</p><p>That lack of Sixers’ draft assets didn’t stop Morey from attempting to get <a href="https://twitter.com/Sean_Barnard1/status/1681340906052501514" rel="noopener">back in the draft</a>, especially as a player (that he wisely refused to name) tumbled down the draft board, according to Sean Barnard of Philly Sports Network.</p><p>“There was another prominent player who fell in this year’s draft that we were trying to move up for,” Morey said. “I couldn’t understand why they were falling because I’ve seen him play live multiple times here in town.”</p><p>We probably don’t need to do much sleuthing to figure out who Morey was referencing. Villanova’s arena is just 12 miles west of Philadelphia, and Cam Whitmore was the most prominent <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/rockets-rookie-cam-whitmore-gets-brutally-honest-on-disrespectful-slide-in-nba-draft" rel="noopener">draft day tumbler</a>, falling to the Houston Rockets with the 20th pick after most prognosticators had him locked in as a lottery selection.</p><p>While Sixers fans undoubtedly would have loved to see Whitmore stay right at home, the 6-foot-7 forward should receive a big role <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/rockets-news-cam-whitmore-summer-league-mvp-win-has-houston-fans-hyped" rel="noopener">right away</a> on a young Rockets team with lots of minutes available.</p><p>Whitmore <a href="https://www.nba.com/watch/video/some-great-plays-from-the-nba-2k24-summer-league-mvp-cam-whitmore?plsrc=nba&amp;collection=2023-nba-summer-league" rel="noopener">has done well</a> so far to prove all the teams that passed on him wrong, winning the NBA2k24 Summer League MVP award while averaging 20.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 3.0 steals per game during his time in Las Vegas.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Did Sixers’ Daryl Morey just hint at trying to trade up for Cam Whitmore in 2023 NBA Draft?

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/rockets-biggest-concern-about-cam-whitmore-after-2023-nba-summer-league-performance');   ga('set', 'title', 'Rockets’ biggest concern about Cam Whitmore after 2023 NBA Summer League performance');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Rockets__biggest_concern_about_Cam_Whitmore_after_2023_NBA_Summer_League_performance.jpg"></figure><h1>Rockets’ biggest concern about Cam Whitmore after 2023 NBA Summer League performance</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-07-18T01:51:12-07:00">July 18th, 1:51am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-07-18T01:51:12-07:00">July 18th, 1:51am</time><address><a>Jay Postrado</a></address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Slipping out of the NBA Draft lottery makes a prospect work with a chip on their shoulder. This is exactly what Cam Whitmore aims to do with his stint for the Houston Rockets. The rookie came out <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-summer-league-biggest-winners" rel="noopener">blazing in the 2023 NBA Summer League</a> to prove that he was more than a top-20 pick. His mission seemed to be proving why his injury concerns were fictitious and that front offices should have trusted him more.</p><p>The Rockets are going to need a lot more floor spacing from their forwards and wings. Cam Whitmore could offer just that for them as he develops into his role. Ime Udoka already has a stacked guard rotation which means it is more than likely the rookie gets positioned as a forward. Jalen Green, Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, and Kevin Porter Jr. among others need to develop which means he has to adjust.</p><p>A huge reason why<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/rockets-news-cam-whitmore-summer-league-mvp-win-has-houston-fans-hyped" rel="noopener"> Cam Whitmore was so up</a> high in the NBA Draft boards was because of his all-around game. It is tailor-fitted for the modern NBA and three-point revolution. He is able to slash, play make, and crash the boards on command. This all-around upside could pair well with Jabari Smith Jr. in their frontcourt. However, his three-point shooting is the main concern during the NBA Summer League.</p><h2>Cam Whitmore and the Rockets’ spacing</h2><p>Villanova basketball benefitted from Cam Whitmore’s volume three-point shooting to open up their offensive schematics. He attempted 4.2 shots from beyond the arc on average per game. This rewarded him with a 34.3% field goal percentage from way out. The expectation would be that these numbers slowly start rising up as he gets access to NBA-caliber coaches and physical therapists. Although, the inverse seems to be happening.</p><p>The NBA Summer League saw Whitmore play five games on a 31.5-minute per-game average. His shooting numbers inside the arc were respectable. In total, he averaged a 46.5% shooting percentage on all three levels of scoring. However, his outside shot seems to have gotten worse while shooting at a higher volume.</p><h2>Cam Whitmore and the Rockets’ three-point green light</h2><p>Whitmore was given the green light to chuck shots from way out. This caused him to attempt nearly 8.2 shots from three-point range. It was a huge jump in comparison to his college stint where he only shot 4.2 jumpers in that area. The drawback is that his efficiency went down. Finding a shooting rhythm can be quite hard for a rookie, especially in the fast-paced game of the NBA. This might explain why his three-point percentage went down to a measly 29.3%.</p><p>A lot of his regression from three may come from his decision-making during the game. Often, he tries to salvage broken plays by chucking a three rather than trying to read the defense. This causes him to take questionable shots whenever he is on the floor. On some occasions, he tries to heat up by shooting from beyond the arc. However, he does not get enough separation from his defender in those situations. These will gradually improve as he gets mentored by veteran NBA coaches who know their way around shotmaking.</p><p>Ime Udoka loves floor spacing and requires it from his forwards. Al Horford and Grant Williams had to develop their outside shot under his system. It will just be a matter of time until Cam Whitmore proves NBA front offices wrong by developing his three-pointer.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Rockets’ biggest concern about Cam Whitmore after 2023 NBA Summer League performance

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/rockets-news-cam-whitmore-summer-league-mvp-win-has-houston-fans-hyped');   ga('set', 'title', 'Cam Whitmore’s Summer League MVP win has Rockets fans hyped');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Cam-Whitmore-Rockets-2023-NBA-Summer-League-MVP.jpg"></figure><h1>Cam Whitmore’s Summer League MVP win has Rockets fans hyped</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-07-17T22:28:10-07:00">July 17th, 10:28pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-07-17T22:28:10-07:00">July 17th, 10:28pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Loves Arsenal and the Los Angeles Clippers, so his loyalty can never be questioned. This guy has been through enough sports trauma for one lifetime -- so he writes about it instead as a form of therapy. (It hasn't worked though. Someday maybe it will -- especially when he's been working for ClutchPoints since August 2022.)</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>During draft night, one player sat in the green room waiting for Adam Silver to call his name for longer than most people expected. After being projected by many to get picked in the lottery, with some even going as far as to put him in the top five, Cam Whitmore <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/rockets-cam-whitmore-fires-back-at-medical-concerns-that-caused-draft-fall" rel="noopener">fell all the way</a> to the Houston Rockets with the 20th pick of the 2023 NBA Draft. And now, it looks like Whitmore is solidifying his status as the biggest steal of the draft thus far, especially after a resounding Summer League performance.</p><p>Whitmore <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-news-cam-whitmore-summer-league-mvp-awards" rel="noopener">won the Most Valuable Player</a> award of Vegas Summer League after averaging 20.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.0 steals per game, shooting 46.5 percent from the field in the process. As a result of Whitmore’s overall brilliance during Summer League (his defense, in particular, has stood out), Rockets fans are <a href="https://twitter.com/KiLBJJ/status/1681129616344244225" rel="noopener">in a mood of celebration</a> on Twitter after witnessing the humble beginnings of what could be an illustrious career for the 19-year old forward.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Cam Whitmore had Summer league MVP 🤷🏽‍♂️ <a href="https://t.co/oMSQDWBiWQ">pic.twitter.com/oMSQDWBiWQ</a></p><p>— LBJ ʰᶦᵐ (@KiLBJJ) <a href="https://twitter.com/KiLBJJ/status/1681129616344244225?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 18, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Cam Whitmore won Summer League MVP 🤷🏽‍♂️ <a href="https://t.co/jSjs9qUoQS">pic.twitter.com/jSjs9qUoQS</a></p><p>— ᵂᴵᴸᴸ (@BiasedHouston) <a href="https://twitter.com/BiasedHouston/status/1681128997759987716?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 18, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">16 teams passed on Cam Whitmore. </p><p>2 teams passed on Cam Whitmore twice.</p><p>He was just named Summer League MVP and made Summer League First Team after averaging 20, 6, &amp; 2.</p><p>Use it as fuel, <a href="https://twitter.com/_camwhitmore_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@_camwhitmore_</a>. Houston believes in you. <a href="https://t.co/0A82AUwsQT">pic.twitter.com/0A82AUwsQT</a></p><p>— ᵂᴵᴸᴸ (@BiasedHouston) <a href="https://twitter.com/BiasedHouston/status/1681019868252983298?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">CAM WHITMORE SUMMER LEAGUE MVP!!! <a href="https://t.co/uSqUgKTpVL">pic.twitter.com/uSqUgKTpVL</a></p><p>— BigE (Dillon Brooks Believer) (@BigE_Houston) <a href="https://twitter.com/BigE_Houston/status/1681017953486004226?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Of course, winning Summer League MVP doesn’t necessarily mean that a great career is what lies ahead. But Cam Whitmore clearly showed that he may be a long-term keeper for the Rockets. Despite shooting less than 30 percent from deep, he showed fluid mechanics when letting it fly, and on the move, he <a href="https://twitter.com/balldontstop/status/1681057829338349568" rel="noopener">looked like a natural</a> out there, with or without the basketball.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">19 teams ignored the eye test 🤦🏽‍♂️ Cam Whitmore can be a monster wing in the NBA. Athletic, scores at three levels and has a chip on his shoulder. Rockets got a dog. </p><p>🎥 <a href="https://twitter.com/BradeauxNBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BradeauxNBA</a> <a href="https://t.co/2v0n8kzGi9">pic.twitter.com/2v0n8kzGi9</a></p><p>— Ball Don't Stop (@balldontstop) <a href="https://twitter.com/balldontstop/status/1681057829338349568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">2023 Summer League MVP Cam Whitmore 🚀</p><p>20.4 PTS | 5.6 REB | 3 STL | 2.2 AST </p><p>"Call him Rod because he is on a wave right now." </p><p> <a href="https://t.co/YgHD4dfkDa">pic.twitter.com/YgHD4dfkDa</a></p><p>— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ballislife/status/1681034799954231298?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>At the very least, winning MVP in Vegas bodes well for Cam Whitmore’s chances of sticking in the NBA for the long haul. Since 2015, all Summer League MVPs have become major pieces in teams’ rotations, and since 2006, only Josh Selby and Glen Rice Jr. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_Summer_League" rel="noopener">failed to emerge</a> as quality players. The Rockets must be very pleased to have drafted Whitmore 20th overall, using a pick swap that they got from the Los Angeles Clippers in the Eric Gordon trade. Clippers fans are understandably upset to have lost out on the opportunity to draft the nascent 19-year old forward.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Dawg I cannot believe we lost Cam Whitmore because of fucking Eric Gordon this shit is making my blood boil</p><p>— CLIPMAN ✂️💥🖐🤖 (@Clipman19) <a href="https://twitter.com/Clipman19/status/1681116707266363392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 18, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">No one's talking bout how we traded j wall Kennard and cam Whitmore for 30 games of 34 years old Eric Gordon and kobe brown which is aight but doesn't compare to cam</p><p>— t mann is my man (@qzb_tl) <a href="https://twitter.com/qzb_tl/status/1681034992086818816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Only time will tell just how far Cam Whitmore’s Rockets career would go. But given how promising Whitmore’s Summer League performances have been, the smart money may be to bet on him having a fruitful stay in H-Town.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Cam Whitmore’s Summer League MVP win has Rockets fans hyped

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-summer-league-biggest-winners');   ga('set', 'title', 'Keyonte George, Cam Whitmore highlight biggest winners from NBA Summer League 2023');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Biggest-winners-from-NBA-Summer-League-2023.jpg"></figure><h1>Keyonte George, Cam Whitmore highlight biggest winners from NBA Summer League 2023</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-07-17T12:41:36-07:00">July 17th, 12:41pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-07-17T12:42:08-07:00">July 17th, 12:42pm</time><address><a>Brett Siegel</a>Brett Siegel joined ClutchPoints as a credentialed NBA insider and reporter in May 2023 after previously covering the NBA for Fastbreak on FanNation and NBA Analysis Network, as well as working with Louisville Basketball. From playing to coaching to covering the game as a media member, Brett has been involved with the game of basketball from many different perspectives. Breaking the news of various free agent signings, yearly NBA Draft news and other key stories around the league, Brett is always on the phone, getting the latest news and rumors around the NBA. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @BrettSiegelNBA.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The 82-game regular season is great and the playoffs are fantastic, but NBA Summer League in Las Vegas has suddenly become the best event held by the league every single offseason. With thousands of NBA fans, scouts, agents, executives and more heading west, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-summer-league-damian-lillard-pascal-siakam-trade-rumors-reactions" rel="noopener">Summer League</a> has become more than just a spectacle to welcome the stars of tomorrow to the NBA.</p><p>This summer’s showcase presented opportunity to so many youthful talents not only beginning their respective careers but those looking for more opportunity in the league. Several second and third-year players have made a name for themselves at Summer League through the years and now some of these players like Desmond Bane find themselves on max-level contracts heading into the new year.</p><p>Highlighted by first overall pick <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-biggest-concern-victor-wembanyama-2023-nba-summer-league-performance" rel="noopener">Victor Wembanyama</a>, this year’s Summer League was mainly about the incoming rookie class that is full of athletes and high-potential scorers. Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson were also in action, yet these three top picks were not the standouts from their draft class in Las Vegas.</p><p>Value can be found at any point in the draft and teams begin to learn this based on what they see in Summer League. Regarding the draft, you don’t even need to be selected to make an impact in this league and we have seen this time and time again.</p><p>From first-round picks to second-round picks to players who went undrafted recently, here are the biggest winners coming out of Las Vegas Summer League.</p><h2><b>Keyonte George – Utah Jazz</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Biggest-winners-from-NBA-Summer-League-2023-1.jpg"></figure><p>While he only played in three games due to right ankle sprain, Keyonte George was by far the most spectacular rookie in Summer League this year. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/2023-nba-mock-draft-5-0-draft-day-edition" rel="noopener">On Utah’s radar</a> throughout the pre-draft process, the Jazz identified George as a young player that could potentially lead their backcourt one day. He may very well be ready to do so right away during his rookie season after what he showed them in Las Vegas!</p><p>In the three games he played in, George averaged 21.7 points and 6.3 assists per game while shooting 52.3 percent from the floor and 44.4 percent from three-point range. This is why the Jazz rookie was named to the 2K24 All-Summer League First Team.</p><p>Whether it was pulling up from deep in rhythm or attacking his opponent all the way to the hoop, George exerted confidence every single time he was on the floor. At just 19 years old, the former Baylor Bear looked like a multi-year veteran who had been to Summer League before.</p><p>After trading away Donovan Mitchell last season and Mike Conley Jr. this past year, the Jazz have left themselves thin in their backcourt. Finding a new, young guard who could play alongside Jordan Clarkson was a must for this team in the offseason, which is one of the reasons why they wanted to select George in this year’s draft. The 16th overall pick had himself some terrific showings in Summer League and his averages would be much higher if he didn’t get hurt ten minutes into his third game.</p><p>The Jazz have a very bright future ahead of them and their rookie guard may very well be in the running for more than All-Rookie honors this season. Keep an eye on George regarding the upcoming Rookie of the Year race.</p><h2><b>Cam Whitmore – Houston Rockets</b></h2><p>Once thought to be a Top-10 pick, possibly a Top-5 pick in this year’s draft, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-draft-2023-takeaways-recap-winners-losers-steals-victor-wembanyama" rel="noopener">Cam Whitmore slid</a> all the way out of the lottery and was taken with the 20th overall pick by the Houston Rockets. Similar to the Jazz with George, the Rockets were eyeing Whitmore during the pre-draft process and they believed that getting him as late as they did in the first-round was a steal.</p><p>Well, Whitmore certainly looked like the steal of this year’s draft at Summer League, as he was one of the top rookie performers and was recently named the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-news-cam-whitmore-summer-league-mvp-awards" rel="noopener">2023 Summer League MV</a>P.</p><p>Although you never want to see injuries, Amen Thompson going down with a leg injury ultimately proved very beneficial for Whitmore, as he became Houston’s top option with Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason being shut down as well after just two games. From scoring to defending to rebounding, Whitmore has done it all for the Rockets in Las Vegas and he has led them to the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/rockets-cavaliers-summer-league-final-prediction-pick-how-watch" rel="noopener">Summer League championship game</a>, which will be played on Monday night.</p><p>Through five games, Whitmore has averaged 20.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.0 steals per game while shooting 46.5 percent from the floor. He may only be shooting 29.3 percent from deep, but Whitmore’s defensive instincts have stood out and he set a Summer League record with eight total steals in one game.</p><p>How he will fit into the Rockets’ rotations this upcoming season is unknown, but Whitmore certainly proved that he can play and make an impact out on the wing.</p><h2><b>Orlando Robinson – Miami Heat</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Biggest-winners-from-NBA-Summer-League-2023-2.jpg"></figure><p>Going undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft, Orlando Robinson ended up signing a contract with the Miami Heat. Originally joining the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Heat’s G League affiliates, Robinson was waived and then re-joined the organization on a two-way contract. After being waived a second time, Robinson again re-joined the Heat on a two-way contract about a month later and spent the rest of the season with both Sioux Falls and Miami.</p><p>This offseason, the Heat signed the undrafted center to a standard contract and he was arguably the most outstanding player in Las Vegas. Robinson showcased his all-around game while leading the Heat to a 3-1 record in the games that he played in and he scored below 20 points just once.</p><p>His best game was came in Miami’s first of Summer League against the Boston Celtics, as Robinson recorded 36 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. In total, Robinson averaged 25.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 57.8 percent from the floor and 35.3 percent from three-point range.</p><p>The Heat just seem to have a knack for finding potential in undrafted talents and Robinson seems to be next up to break into Erik Spoelstra’s rotations with Miami. Behind Bam Adebayo, the Heat do not have much depth, which is why Robinson’s Summer League performances were special.</p><h2><b>Jaden Springer – Philadelphia 76ers</b></h2><p>At this point, there are a lot of unknowns surrounding <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-sixers-unreasonable-asking-price-james-harden-revealed" rel="noopener">James Harden</a> and whether or not he will be traded. The Philadelphia 76ers will be entering the 2023-24 season with high championship aspirations once again, regardless if Harden is on their roster, yet they have some holes to fill in their backcourt.</p><p>Ever since they drafted him in the first round of the 2021 NBA Draft, Jaden Springer has been a prospect the Sixers have spent a lot of time fine tuning in the G League. Possessing a ton of two-way potential as a combo guard, Springer has a chance to really take a step forward into Philadelphia’s rotations this upcoming season, especially since Nick Nurse is now their defensive-minded head coach.</p><p>Leading the G League in steals this past season and named the 2023 G League Finals MVP after winning a title with the Delaware Blue Coats, Springer continued to find success in Summer League. In three games out in Las Vegas, Springer averaged 22.3 points, 3.7 rebound and 2.7 steals per game while shooting 48.8 percent from the floor.</p><p>He still needs to work on his perimeter game offensively, but Springer has proven to be a real impact defender and his length stands out at either guard position. The Sixers’ bench has been weak for quite some time and they will need someone to step up if they are to finally end the curse that has held them out of the Eastern Conference Finals over the years.</p><p>Springer had some terrific showings in the G League and he was one of the standout performers in Las Vegas over the last two weeks. If the 76ers are looking for new production in their backcourt, they should look no further than their 2021 first-round pick, as he is finally ready to make an impact at the NBA level.</p><h2><b>Hunter Tyson – Denver Nuggets</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Biggest-winners-from-NBA-Summer-League-2023-3.jpg"></figure><p>The Denver Nuggets have always been a organization that prides themselves on their draft evaluations and finding diamonds in the rough that everyone else overlooks. Things turned out pretty good with Nikola Jokic, a second-round pick in 2014, and now Denver is looking to find value in yet another second-round pick.</p><p>Obviously he won’t be anything like Jokic, but the Nuggets may have found one of the steals of this year’s draft in the second round with Hunter Tyson out of Clemson. A late riser during the pre-draft process, Tyson raised eyebrows with his play at the NBA Combine and his offensive game on the perimeter is what made him a threat entering Summer League.</p><p>Tyson stood out in all five games he played in for Denver in Las Vegas, averaging 20.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game while shooting 54.1 percent from the floor and 18-36 from three-point range, exactly 50.0 percent. He earned 2K24 All-Summer League First Team honors as a result.</p><p>Three-point shooting was one of the main reasons why the Nuggets won their first title in team history this past season and in order to find more success moving forward, they will need impactful bench talents on the perimeter. Tyson proved that he could hold his own in Summer League and heading into his rookie season, the Nuggets can now be confident in his abilities when his number is called.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Keyonte George, Cam Whitmore highlight biggest winners from NBA Summer League 2023

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/rockets-news-cam-whitmore-wakes-up-those-sleeping-on-him-with-astounding-performance-vs-warriors');   ga('set', 'title', 'Cam Whitmore wakes up those sleeping on him with astounding performance vs. Warriors');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Rockets-news-Cam-Whitmore-wakes-up-those-sleeping-on-him-with-astounding-performance-vs-Warriors.jpg"></figure><h1>Cam Whitmore wakes up those sleeping on him with astounding performance vs. Warriors</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-07-14T05:20:15-07:00">July 14th, 5:20am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-07-14T05:20:48-07:00">July 14th, 5:20am</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David is in his first season as an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is based in Los Angeles and currently covers basketball at every level from NBA/WNBA to men/women college and boys/girls high school.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Houston Rockets have been <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/rockets-news-dillon-brooks-bold-jalen-green-declaration-will-surprise-ja-morant" rel="noopener">building a solid young core</a> even if there’s been a lot of growing pains the past couple of seasons. They were able to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/rockets-summer-league-4-brandon-thompson-reactions-vegas-opener" rel="noopener">add to that core</a> this offseason in the form of the NBA Draft. They had a solid foundation in the form of Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun and Kevin Porter Jr. They added to that group with their draft picks of Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore. Whitmore, in particular, is very intriguing in that he was considered a lottery-caliber player before his eventual slip in the NBA Draft. He’s been <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1679663670819962880?s=20" rel="noopener">putting on a show</a> at NBA Summer League, and it’s looking like the Rockets quite possibly got the steal of the draft.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Cam Whitmore went OFF in the Rockets’ win over the Warriors ⭐️</p><p>26 points <br>5 rebounds<br>8 steals (!)</p><p>11-of-21 FG<br>3-of-9 3PT</p><p>Did Houston get the steal of the draft with Whitmore at #20? 🤔 <a href="https://t.co/oeWm44DQil">pic.twitter.com/oeWm44DQil</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1679663670819962880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Cam Whitmore declared for the NBA Draft after one season at Villanova. He was supposed to be a lottery pick before he ended up falling to the middle of the first round, pick No. 20, where the Rockets selected him. There was much speculation as to what could have led to Whitmore’s slip ranging from possible injury concerns to possible attitude issues. But <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-rockets-rookie-cam-whitmores-draft-slide-linked-villanova-coach-kyle-neptune" rel="noopener">a third possibility</a> came to light in that Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune may have played a role in that.</p><p>In any case, Whitmore seems determined to prove that he was worthy of being a lottery pick with his recent play at NBA Summer League. During play so far, Whitmore has been averaging 19.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 3.5 steals with splits of 44.9 percent shooting from the field and 26.7 percent shooting from three-point range.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Cam Whitmore wakes up those sleeping on him with astounding performance vs. Warriors

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/rockets-cam-whitmore-lebron-james-jayson-tatum-houston-fans');   ga('set', 'title', 'Cam Whitmore drops LeBron James, Jayson Tatum takes that will please Rockets fans');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Rockets-news-Cam-Whitmore-drops-LeBron-James-Jayson-Tatum-takes-that-will-please-Houston-fans.jpg"></figure><h1>Cam Whitmore drops LeBron James, Jayson Tatum takes that will please Rockets fans</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-07-11T15:29:44-07:00">July 11th, 3:29pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-07-11T15:29:44-07:00">July 11th, 3:29pm</time><address><a>Anthony Riccobono</a>Anthony Riccobono has been a sports reporter for over a decade. He primarily covers the NFL, MLB and NBA.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Houston Rockets rookie Cam Whitmore certainly has a much higher opinion of his game than all the teams that passed on him in the 2023 NBA Draft. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/rockets-rookie-cam-whitmore-gets-brutally-honest-on-disrespectful-slide-in-nba-draft" rel="noopener">After Cam Whitmore fell</a> all the way to the No. 20 pick in the first round, he seems to believe he has what it takes to be an All-NBA-caliber player.</p><p>Cam Whitmore told The Spun that he believes LeBron James is the greatest NBA player of all time. The Rockets’ first-rounder <a href="https://thespun.com/nba/houston-rockets/cam-whitmore-talks-summer-league-call-of-duty-competition">stopped short</a> of saying he was aiming to have a career like that of James, though he set the bar high when it comes to comparing himself to a current NBA star.</p><p>“My goat is LeBron [James],” Whitemore said when asked who is the greatest player and who’s a player he likes to study. “He’s the greatest all-around player ever. My ceiling though and a great player who I think I can play like is Jayson Tatum.”</p><p>If Whitemore ends up being the next Jayson Tatum, he’ll go down as one of the great draft-day steals in recent memory. The former Villanova star was expected to be a top-10 pick, at worst. He plummeted down the draft until the Rockets took him 20th, their second pick of the first round.</p><p>Houston took Amen Thompson with the No. 4 pick. The Rockets likely thought there was no chance Whitmore would be still on the board when they drafted again.</p><p>Whitemore is considered to be one of the most NBA-ready rookies. After struggling with 14 points on 18 shots in his <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/rockets-summer-league-4-brandon-thompson-reactions-vegas-opener" rel="noopener">Summer League debut</a>, the Rockets forward scored 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting in a win over the Detroit Pistons.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Cam Whitmore drops LeBron James, Jayson Tatum takes that will please Rockets fans

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/rockets-rookie-cam-whitmore-gets-brutally-honest-on-disrespectful-slide-in-nba-draft');   ga('set', 'title', 'Rockets rookie Cam Whitmore gets brutally honest on ‘disrespectful’ slide in NBA Draft');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Rockets-news-Cam-Whitmore-gets-brutally-honest-on-_disrespectful_-slide-in-NBA-Draft.jpg"></figure><h1>Rockets rookie Cam Whitmore gets brutally honest on ‘disrespectful’ slide in NBA Draft</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-07-11T15:11:28-07:00">July 11th, 3:11pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-07-11T15:11:28-07:00">July 11th, 3:11pm</time><address><a>Andrew Meyers</a>Andrew Meyers is an avid sports fan with a fondness for Philadelphia teams that rarely love him back. He has two degrees from Quinnipiac University, including a master's in sports journalism. Outside of ClutchPoints, Meyers does play-by-play broadcasting for various colleges in the northeast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Cam Whitmore is being referred to as the steal of the 2023 NBA Draft by multiple outlets after he slid down to the 20th pick in the draft, going to the Houston Rockets. The rookie seems excited to be in Houston and is grateful that the Rockets gave him an opportunity in the NBA. He embraced the unexpected <a href="https://thespun.com/nba/houston-rockets/cam-whitmore-talks-summer-league-call-of-duty-competition" rel="noopener">draft day downfall</a> (h/t Chris Rosvoglou of The Spun).</p><p>“I’m human, so I definitely felt it was disrespectful at the end of the day,” Whitmore said. “But I knew what relationship I had with Ime [Udoka] and the Rockets. I knew they wanted me on the roster. I found it disrespectful, but I’m so grateful to be in the NBA and be on the Houston Rockets.”</p><p>Whitmore was the Big East Freshman of the Year last season with Villanova. He averaged 12.5 points and 5.3 rebounds for the Wildcats and was projected to go in the top 10 in the draft. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-rockets-rookie-cam-whitmores-draft-slide-linked-villanova-coach-kyle-neptune" rel="noopener">Rockets feel they got lucky</a> that he fell to them at 20.</p><p>The Rockets are in the midst of a rebuild having won no more than 22 games in each of the last three seasons. They are stockpiling young assets and are entering year one of the Ime Udoka era as he takes over for Stephan Silas.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/rockets-summer-league-4-brandon-thompson-reactions-vegas-opener" rel="noopener">Cam Whitmore should play</a> a big role for the Rockets in 2023-24 and will have plenty of opportunity to prove that he was disrespected in the draft. He is definitely a name to keep an eye on next season and could be a heavy dark horse for the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Rockets rookie Cam Whitmore gets brutally honest on ‘disrespectful’ slide in NBA Draft

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/rockets-summer-league-4-brandon-thompson-reactions-vegas-opener');   ga('set', 'title', '4 Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore reactions from Rockets’ Vegas Summer League opener');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Rockets_Summer_League_X_Amen_Thompson_Cam_Whitmore_reactions_from_Vegas_opener.jpg"></figure><h1>4 Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore reactions from Rockets’ Vegas Summer League opener</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-07-09T19:55:51-07:00">July 9th, 7:55pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-07-09T20:00:55-07:00">July 9th, 8:00pm</time><address><a href="http://hoopnut.blogspot.com/">Enzo Flojo</a>Enzo Flojo is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints and a columnist for Asian basketball at FIBA. He brings a dynamic spirit and background, having expertise that spans writing, analytics, coaching, and broadcasting. He is also currently an Assistant Coach on Scouting &amp; Analytics for the Philippine national youth basketball team.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Houston Rockets’ Summer League opener in Las Vegas was highly anticipated, with fans eager to see the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/rockets-2023-nba-draft-class" rel="noopener">team’s new draft picks</a> in action. The Rockets won in their first 2023 NBA 2K24 Summer League game, beating the Portland Trail Blazers, <a href="https://www.nba.com/game/por-vs-hou-1522300004/box-score#box-score" rel="noopener">100-99</a>. Houston’s roster included Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore, who were selected fourth and twentieth overall, respectively. Keep in mind that Thompson, a 6’6 guard from Overtime Elite, was one of the most highly touted prospects in the draft. Here we will look at some reactions from the Las Vegas Summer League opener of Rockets rookies Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore.</p><h2><b>Game Summary</b></h2><p>In his Summer League debut, Thompson <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/rockets-news-amen-thompson-suffers-injury-nba-summer-league-debut" rel="noopener">showed flashes of his potential</a>, scoring 16 points and grabbing 4 rebounds in 28 minutes of play. Whitmore, a 6’7″ forward from Villanova, was also expected to make an impact in the Summer League. In his debut, Whitmore scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in 32 minutes of play. With Thompson and Whitmore showing potential, and Jabari Smith leading the way, the Rockets’ young players will have a chance to develop and grow together, which could lead to success in the future.</p><p>Now let’s look at some reactions from the Summer League opener of Rockets rookies Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore.</p><h2><b>1. Tremendous poise</b></h2><p>Amen Thompson showed tremendous poise in his Summer League debut. Again, he scored 16 points and shot 6-of-13 from the field and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line. That’s on top of 5 assists and 3 steals. He showed flashes of his potential as a dynamic playmaker and perimeter-stopper.</p><p>That was perhaps the most impressive thing about Thompson’s performance. Despite being a rookie with a ton of pressure on his shoulders, Thompson looked comfortable and in control throughout the night. He wasn’t afraid to take big shots or make aggressive plays on defense, and his confidence seemed to rub off on his teammates.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Amen Thompson’s scoring highlights from his first game in a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rockets?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Rockets</a> uniform:</p><p>He flashed a ton of potential. <a href="https://t.co/VAdJ3deV2T">pic.twitter.com/VAdJ3deV2T</a></p><p>— Bradeaux (@BradeauxNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/BradeauxNBA/status/1677498281750933504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 8, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>2. Impressive debut</b></h2><p>Cam Whitmore also <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/rockets-news-tari-eason-drops-5-word-message-on-houston-rookie-cam-whitmore" rel="noopener">had an impressive debut</a>. On top of scoring and rebounding, he tallied 2 assists, 2 steals, and even hit a three-pointer. Whitmore does need to work on his efficiency, as he shot just 5-of-18 from the floor. Still, he showed potential as a versatile forward who can contribute on both ends of the floor.</p><h2><b>3. High draft grades</b></h2><p>The Rockets’ selection of Thompson and Whitmore in the draft earned them high draft grades from NBA analysts. After their first Vegas Summer League game (and then their recent win over the Detroit Pistons), it seems those draft marks were justified. Thompson’s athleticism, playmaking, and high basketball IQ make him a dynamic addition to the Rockets’ backcourt. Meanwhile, Whitmore’s versatility and potential make him a valuable asset to the team. Thompson didn’t play against the Pistons <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/rockets-amen-thompson-ankle-injury-update-summer-league" rel="noopener">because of an injury</a> he sustained in the previous game, but Whitmore did even better. He put up 21 points.</p><h2><b>4. Reason for excitement</b></h2><p>Overall, the performances of Thompson and Whitmore in the Summer League opener gave fans a reason to be excited about the Rockets’ future. With Jalen Green and Smith leading the way this coming season and Thompson and Whitmore showing potential, the Rockets’ young players have a chance to develop and grow together. This could lead to success in the future.</p><h2><b>Meeting Expectations?</b></h2><p>Based on the expectations set for them, Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore’s performances in the Houston Rockets’ opening game at the 2023 Las Vegas Summer League were generally positive.</p><p>Remember once more that Thompson was one of the most highly touted prospects in the draft. His performance in the Summer League opener showed flashes of his potential as a dynamic playmaker and perimeter stopper. His performance was generally in line with expectations, and he gave fans a reason to be excited about his future with the Rockets.</p><p>As for Whitmore, he was also expected to make an impact in the Summer League. He had an impressive debut and a really good follow-up performance, too. While his initial performance wasn’t as eye-catching as Thompson’s, he showed potential as a versatile forward who can contribute on both ends of the floor.</p><p>Overall, both Thompson and Whitmore’s performances were generally in line with expectations. While it’s still early, they showed that they have the potential to be key contributors to the Rockets’ future success.</p><h2><b>Looking Ahead</b></h2><p>Moving forward, the Rockets’ campaign in the 2023-24 NBA season should center around their young core. Of course, this includes Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore.</p><p>The Rockets’ long-term outlook depends heavily on the success of these young players. Houston may have a golden generation coming up. That’s if Green, Smith, Thompson, and Whitmore can all continue growing into reliable players.  The team is hoping that these guys will develop into key contributors in the future. As such, the 2023-24 season will be an important year for their development.</p><p>Right now, Thompson’s and Whitmore’s performances in the Summer League will continue to be closely watched. Of course, they will have a chance to showcase their skills and potentially earn a spot in the Rockets’ core rotation.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

4 Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore reactions from Rockets’ Vegas Summer League opener

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/rockets-news-tari-eason-drops-5-word-message-on-houston-rookie-cam-whitmore');   ga('set', 'title', 'Tari Eason drops 5-word message on Rockets rookie Cam Whitmore');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Eason-Whitmore.jpg"></figure><h1>Tari Eason drops 5-word message on Rockets rookie Cam Whitmore</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-07-09T19:17:12-07:00">July 9th, 7:17pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-07-09T19:17:12-07:00">July 9th, 7:17pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David is in his first season as an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is based in Los Angeles and currently covers basketball at every level from NBA/WNBA to men/women college and boys/girls high school.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Houston Rockets have <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/rockets-news-amen-thompson-take-fit-jalen-green-jabari-smith-jr" rel="noopener">established a solid young core</a> of players. With former lottery picks Jalen Green and Jabari Smith Jr. on the team along with Alperen Segun, Kevin Porter Jr. and Tari Eason, the Rockets have a future they can believe in. They added to that core in the NBA Draft when they selected both Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore. Thompson is <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/rockets-amen-thompson-ankle-injury-update-summer-league" rel="noopener">currently shut down</a> as an injury precaution for the rest of summer league, but Rockets fans will still get to see Whitmore who put on a show on Sunday. His play <a href="https://twitter.com/clutchfans/status/1678190528939143168?s=20" rel="noopener">drew some strong praise</a> from Eason who dubbed him a ‘special player.’</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Tari Eason on Cam Whitmore: "Man, that dude is special." <a href="https://t.co/l7eBCwATRh">pic.twitter.com/l7eBCwATRh</a></p><p>— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) <a href="https://twitter.com/clutchfans/status/1678190528939143168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 9, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“Man that dude is special,” Tari Eason said following the Rockets summer league win against the Detroit Pistons. “He just turned 19 years old yesterday, literally. That fact that he’s able to come out here and play in such a mature game, shows a true testament to how great he is as a player and how great he will be.”</p><p>That’s sure to be music to Rockets fans ears as Cam Whitmore has a chance to be the steal of the draft. He was considered a lottery talent but he ended up slipping to the No. 20 pick where the Rockets grabbed him. Against the Jazz on Sunday at summer league, Whitmore finished with 21 points, one rebound, two assists and one steal. He shot 9-16 from the field and 3-7 from the three-point line.</p><p>Rumors swirled following the draft as to why Whitmore slipped with everything from injury concerns and character issues being floated around. But apparently Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune did not do Whitmore <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-rockets-rookie-cam-whitmores-draft-slide-linked-villanova-coach-kyle-neptune" rel="noopener">any favors</a> following his decision to declare for the NBA Draft.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2023-24 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
12.3	3.8	0.7	0.4	0.6

2023-24 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
12.3	3.8	0.7	0.4	0.6

Cam Whitmore news

Cam
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