[00:00:00] Dustin: All right everybody. Welcome to the 327th edition of the Holy Backboard Podcast. I am Dustin here in Rip City, and I got my man.
[00:00:19] Sage: What’s up y’all? Sage is here, ready to talk about this? Uh, talk more draft. This is, this is what gets me excited, man. Us playing 40 plus dame, 40 plus minutes a night to beat the worst teams in the league with major injuries.
[00:00:34] Doesn’t get me excited. But these 19, 18, 20 year old prospects that have all the potential in the world kind of motivate me to talk about basketball. So I’m very excited about. Another future Friday’s episode and we have a, uh, prospect that is one of the most athletics guys in the, uh,
[00:00:56] Dustin: ncaa. Yeah, we’re talking about, uh, Villanova [00:01:00] freshman, uh, cam Whitmore, uh, 6 7 2 25.
[00:01:04] Uh, currently ranked as the the second overall power forward, um, by, by tank athon. And he was a, a five star. He was the, the, the 10th overall player in the class of 2022 from Maryland. Decided to stay on the East coast, uh, play with the Villanova Wildcats. Um, Have had an uncharacteristically bad mediocre season by, by those standards.
[00:01:30] Uh, they are 16 and 15 on the year, sixth in the Big East. Uh, j Wright is no longer there, so it’s hard to tell, like, when I’m looking at a prospect, some of the things that go into my, uh, thought process are, or what school are they from, you know, because college. Have a track record for how their players produced in the league.
[00:01:51] For the longest time, you didn’t want to touch a, a Duke Blue Devil. You still probably didn’t want to touch a Syracuse Orange. Um, outside of, you know, Carmelo [00:02:00] Anthony was that exception. On the, on the other hand, John Calipari and Jay Wright continuously sent players to the league year after year after year.
[00:02:09] But with J Wright no longer, um, in the fold in Villano. It’s a little bit of a different process, but, uh, cam is a very unique prospect in the class of 2023. Uh, at the moment in, in 23 games, cam is, he’s getting a lot of time, 27 minutes per game, uh, 12.6 points on the season, shooting 46, 40 7% from the field, 34 and a half percent from.
[00:02:37] 73% from the line, grabbing five rebounds and really just, uh, getting one, one and a half steals almost an assist per game and a half a block per game. So, so not much there. But again, it is a little tricky to look at college statistics and make a direct comparison to how that will correlate or translate over to the next level, but, If [00:03:00] you do look at his per 36 minutes, that does jump up to six, 6.7 rebounds.
[00:03:05] Nearly two steals per game. Um, and 17 points. So sage, when we’re looking at a player like, uh, Cam Whitmore. I, I think he’s probably one of the most unique prospects in this, this draft. I feel like as basketball players evolve, we are gonna continue to see like players who were not able to compare to former or current N B A players any longer, whether it’s Victor, wbe, Yama, amen, Thompson, uh, even chat holmgren last year.
[00:03:38] Like th there there’s going to be these, these outliers and it’s. It’s fun, but it’s also difficult because you can’t look back at someone and say, oh, this player reminds me of X and this is how they played in the league. Now it’s even more of a crapshoot because if you look at at the ringer and what they, their comparison.[00:04:00]
[00:04:01] Their comparison for Cam More isn’t even a player. It’s shades of a semi-truck with a Ferrari’s accelerator. Um, they have him as the eighth overall prospect in this class. Um, the, the bonuses, the bonuses for him. Positional versatility, athleticism, feel for the game, and everyone’s favorite Got that dog in him.
[00:04:24] So Sage, tell me a little bit about Cam Whitmore and why he was the second player that we decided to discuss for the class of 2023 Future Friday edition.
[00:04:35] Sage: Well, he’s, he’s rejected in where the Blazers potentially could have picked before they won those two games. When you look at those highlights of Cam Whitmore, you see somebody that’s.
[00:04:48] A, a physical freak going downhill. One direction. He is, he is that dude athletically. You see him [00:05:00] throw the ball off the backboard, catch it, and then dunk it like that. Athleticism is pretty damn rare. Once I went past the, the, uh, the, uh, highlights, I looked at him and there was a lot to his game. I think a lot of.
[00:05:18] comes off that athleticism. And I, I think we need to talk about athleticism. We have a guy in shade sharp that’s 99 percentile athlete.
[00:05:26] Dustin: I don’t, I, I a hundred, like, I think he, I think if you’re two K, you give him that a hundred rating for athleticism.
[00:05:32] Sage: Okay. I’m, I’m cool with that. I don’t give cam that. No, I think, I think as a athlete that can go straight line.
[00:05:39] He’s pretty there, but once you have to go laterally, , then that athleticism kind of goes away, which is very worrisome. If you’re talking about a guy that’s an athlete, the second he has to go lateral,
[00:05:52] Dustin: it’s, you’re also not good. Also talking about an undersized forward, and I, I truly don’t believe he’s six seven.
[00:05:58] And you’re also looking at, I [00:06:00] think there’s a difference when SHA is a beast wherever he jumps off of. But there’s this distinct difference when Cam jumps off of two. versus when he jumps off of one foot. Um, when he jumps off of two feet, he pops. He’s a top five prospect to me. And then I started watching more and I was like, the athleticism isn’t wowing me like it should if I’m looking at it.
[00:06:22] At a top 10 player, and how often are you gonna be able to get to that two foot? Gather it. It’s not, you’re more likely to get your momentum off of a one foot jump just in, in the game of basketball, especially playing with, uh, the NBA’s, uh, elite talent. So that is probably one of the biggest worries for me is that explosiveness, um, off of one foot.
[00:06:45] If, if the two feet is is a a plus, the one foot’s
[00:06:49] Sage: probably a B. He can get the job done, but it’s not gonna be like, it looks like he has like springs in his shoes when he jumps off two, but the second it goes off one, [00:07:00] it’s just like he is a fine athlete and when your main thing is he is a great athlete, but in certain scenarios, which happened in the N B A quite a.
[00:07:11] He’s a fine athlete. It gets you to worrying. I think we should talk about his a, his pro parts of his offensive game first before we go to the, I mean
[00:07:22] Dustin: the pro parts. For, for me, what, what, what jumped out was you’re watching early season cam Whitmore and the reason he skyrocketed up draft boards is. You get visions of Philadelphia’s 76 ERs, Charles Barkley head down playing the passing lanes, a bat outta hell.
[00:07:39] He’s just like a battering ram. And then he’s doing these. Two foot euros bouncing through the lane and you’re like, my God, how is he not like the number three prospect in this class? Like he’s missing shots, but then doing a quick Dominique Wilkins, like one hand put back slam, just the, the bounce that he has immediately.
[00:07:58] um, around the rim. Like he [00:08:00] also has a, a bit of, of a handle for his size. Like he’s got a little bit of, for his size, he, he has shown against, against, against collegiate players. You wanna talk about pros. I’m giving you the pros against collegiate players. He has that Zion ability to kind of get. , even just the the slightest advantage, but then lower the shoulder, use the force and create the space that way.
[00:08:23] I don’t know if that’s going to translate M B A, but you’re looking at a collegiate prospect. He’s able to kind of wreak havoc and what does give me hope? We watched the collegiate game stage. It is packed in there like some sardines. The NBA is wide open. He’s going to have much more room to operate at that level, and he’s probably not gonna have the eye of every defender like he is at, at Villanova.
[00:08:48] So he’s probably just gonna to worry about one guy and if I, I think he is a bit of, of a matchup pick, so you get him in there a change of pace because we really haven’t seen a lot of players. With [00:09:00] his, his power, his athleticism. But he, he does have nimble feet, like the, we’re not, you know, rest in peace.
[00:09:05] We’re not talking about Caleb Wangan as an undersized forward here, really not able to, to move like that. Like he does have some nice feet to him. So I, I think there is a path where I see him developing that ability to operate on the perimeter, tighten up the handle. and, you know, get that, get that first step around there.
[00:09:26] So I, I, I do see that. And the shot isn’t broke. It. Oh no, it’s not where, not where it needs to be, but I don’t think the form is anything to, to scoff at. I think. , I think he probably needs to be a bit of a catch and shoot guy at the N B A level. Right now he’s doing a lot of, you know, wonder
[00:09:43] Sage: between the legs.
[00:09:44] He’s moving, he’s
[00:09:45] Dustin: moving hold up, and that’s a difficult shot for a 19 year old to master. And you can look at his game logs. I know he had an injury, uh, early in the season and it was a thumb. I was watching some videos and, and you know, they were saying like January, it started to tick back up [00:10:00] percentage wise.
[00:10:00] But then I started looking at the February logs and you’re seeing a lot of over fives. One for sixes from three. To me that that’s, that’s okay. You, what you wanna see is a form. Like, can that form start to replicate, um, accuracy and, and I believe that, especially if he’s not being asked to be the number one option.
[00:10:19] So I don’t think the shot’s broke. We’re, we’re gonna talk later about prospects, like Amen Thompson. I think that shot’s probably broke and you can’t fix that with, with Cam. I think you can correct that to become a league average shooter. It takes a, again, work ethic. Practice repetition, all of the above.
[00:10:37] But we, we’ve seen that before. Will Barton Nair Little both came to Portland, not known for the jump shot, and I, I think they’ve become respectable shooters at, at this level it can be done, but at least when I worked with the team, will Barton was known for his regimen and how hard he worked to try to get that to a league average.
[00:10:57] If Cam has that, and by all accounts, you know, he, he [00:11:00] has a desire for the game. And that’s another thing that I think is a plus. He just has a lot of heart and hustle to his game, and I think that’s going to play in his favor, um, wherever he gets chosen.
[00:11:11] Sage: So I, I think that when you talk about Cam, you talk offensively, you talk about on ball and off ball, I think the off ball player is a much better and it has a much easier track of hitting his
[00:11:26] Dustin: potential.
[00:11:27] And I think right away that’s where he’ll thrive his off ball.
[00:11:29] Sage: Yeah. That, like, I, I, I don’t think his handle’s good. I think it’s quite bad, but if he can just, he’s a very good cutter and I know the Blazers haven’t utilized cutting. I, I don’t remember being a fan of the team. When they utilize cutting well’s,
[00:11:47] Dustin: the only one that cuts and he gets the ball half the time.
[00:11:49] Sage: Yeah. Like I remember when we signed, uh, airplane mode, dj, dj, and I. If, if we allow him to cut off ball, then [00:12:00] that provides spacing. We didn’t. And then you look at all of the other players on, on the Blazers since the Terry Scotts era and the Chauncey Bill era, and there’s no cutting. But I look at what he can do.
[00:12:11] as a cutter, as a off ball player, I think the shot’s gonna be okay. But the second that you put the ball in his hands, it get it, it gets worrisome. I, I, I would just stick to him to be like a Desmond Bain type of off ball guy. Obviously the shot’s not gonna be Desmond Bain, but if you look at how they move, they’re kind of similar with.
[00:12:36] the thick body and like the, the powerful athlete, not the finesse athlete. When when he has to create for himself, it gets to a lot of getting blocked off cuz he isn’t good enough dribble wise or creative enough to get past college defenders. And I know the spacing is a issue and this very bad.
[00:12:58] Villanova team is also an issue, [00:13:00] but he gets blocked off by like random wings that I don’t know in that conference. I really wish that Jay Wright was there because when you look at those Villanova wings, they cut and pass. Cam Whitmore doesn’t get an assisted game. That’s a, that’s a lot of issues. He has to get his shot correct.
[00:13:18] He has to be able to find a way to get to the hoop easily. He has to dribble. he has to pass. Like that’s a lot of things to get to the, the peak that we think it is. But like a as negative as I’m being about what Cam is, he provides a lot with that athleticism offensively because he’s a very willing participant in cutting and moving and scoring.
[00:13:42] He does
[00:13:42] Dustin: score well. Yeah. And when I say I think his handle is good. I mean, my bar is low. I’m, I’m used to Maurice Harless and Camino as my forwards, and they, I don’t think they could really, no, no disrespect, I don’t think they could put any sort of dribble package no. Together. So he is able to at least do that.
[00:13:58] So that, that’s [00:14:00] my, that’s my bar.
[00:14:01] Sage: I think my, my, my, my, uh, , you have to get to this high for me to say, you’re a good dribble. You’re, you’re down here, you’re, you’re, you’re, you’re quite a bit lower. But I think playmaking and dribbling is one of the things that he needs the most work
[00:14:16] Dustin: on, and that takes time.
[00:14:18] Right. That’s
[00:14:18] Sage: as we are come into league looking like that
[00:14:21] Dustin: as, as high as we are in shade and sharp. Those are his two deficiencies, right. He needs to improve on that, and we both believe he will. But when we’re talking about 19 year old prospects, you have to. , you do have to have a little bit of faith and you have to kind of look beyond what you’re seeing.
[00:14:36] Like do, are they able to move laterally? Do they have a quick first step? Uh, does the handle, does it look like it can be repetitive and, and to something, because I’ll tell you, Jeremy Grant probably didn’t have that when he came out of. You know, college and played with the Sixers. Like, it, it, it takes time.
[00:14:55] So when you are drafting someone, hopefully your organization is patient and you can say, okay, [00:15:00] 5, 6, 7 years down the road, this is where we envision him to be. But even if he doesn’t, doesn’t become a playmaker. I still think there’s value in the rebounding. I think there’s value in the, the, the cutting and I think there’s just value in, in the, in the playing, in the passing lanes and just having that, that hustle.
[00:15:18] On your roster just to kind of energize the, the team. And I think that’s something that Portland lacks a, a bit, um, to be, to be quite honest. And I think there’s always going to be a spot for that type of player in the league. I mean, coaches love players that dive on the floor that kind of are gritty. . Um, and we’ll just do whatever it takes to, to get in the open court, because that’s really where he is going to thrive is can you get him the ball in the open court?
[00:15:43] There’s a little bit of Jerome Cury to that. Like if he can play the lanes, like just, you’re gonna want to get out of his way. He’s like a freight train off the tracks and nobody’s gonna, he has this man’s body already. Yeah, nobody’s gonna,
[00:15:55] Sage: he’s physically that charge. He’s physically built for. I’m fucking running through the [00:16:00] wall and you better get the hell out of the way type of type of athlete because he, he, he is a wide strong man at 2 26 or however he like, I don’t believe that he’s six seven.
[00:16:14] I do believe that he’s 2 25 at least. He is
[00:16:17] Dustin: the ring the ringer has him listed. 6, 7, 7 foot wingspan, 2 32
[00:16:22] Sage: weight. Yeah, I, I believe, I believe that weight. He, it doesn’t look like he needs to lose any weight. He, he’s got his man’s body ready. I do like the, the, I think he has shown some rotational skill in on defense as well.
[00:16:40] He is a very good rebounder for his size, but I think that with that athleticism and on defense, you can jump off too cuz there’s you, you have the time to actually. set your feet and jump. I think that he could be a very good rotational defender if [00:17:00] like, let’s say he is actually six seven and is the power forward on the team.
[00:17:04] Like I think that he could be a really good rotational shot blocker and like he can put some defense on, on that rim side. Cuz we, we’ve seen in the last 20 games with Drew Eubanks like, , he has the ability to block shots, but he doesn’t have the like, patience to not jump. I think if you have Cam Whitmore help side, it makes things a lot more easy for him.
[00:17:29] So I, I, I think the, there’s rotational stuff that he does. There’s pa jumping, the passing lanes and I truly don’t think that he’ll ever be taken out cuz he is targeted defensively. Like I think that at worst he’s gonna be an okay defender at best. I think he could be a really pesky. Off wall guy, like the athleticism defensively makes it so there is that, that threshold that he’ll always be able to hit as long as he is athletic enough.[00:18:00]
[00:18:02] Do you have anything else you wanna say about Cam or do you want to go to the comps, which I know are very
[00:18:07] Dustin: tricky? , let’s talk about his, his defense and his position. Like the, one of the pluses the ringer said was position versatility. I almost think that’s, I know we’re in a Positionless game, but when I think about Cam Whitmore and what Cam Whitmore is, not even just to the Blazers, but how he would be used, I don’t love him as a six seven power forward just because.
[00:18:32] The rebounding is good, but it’s not great. Like, we’re not talking about a Charles Barkley, Dennis Rodman type of rebounder, but I don’t know if he’s gonna be able to stick with the Jason Tatums, the Kevin Durants, um, of the world at, at the small forward position. So like where, where does he play for you defensively?
[00:18:51] Is he able to switch on on the perimeter? And you know, we talked about the straight line athleticism, but laterally, is he gonna be able to switch? [00:19:00] Is he gonna be able to guard twos and threes like, Yes, he can be a matchup nightmare on his end of the floor. But can he be exposed given the lack of height?
[00:19:08] Because if you don’t think he’s six seven, I know he has the wingspan. To me, I’m envisioning him more playing the three. I think you need a bigger four and five along with him. Mm-hmm. . Um, I just don’t know if you can go small with, with cam if, if you have, if, if you’re Portland and you already have a small back court.
[00:19:24] So just so to
[00:19:25] Sage: say, I think that defensively, I, I think that he has. When he is off ball. I feel like he’s very lazy with his defense. And I’ve, I watched every,
[00:19:36] Dustin: every game. What 19 year old isn’t really like I, I, I harped on Paolo bank for that and that knocked him down probably more than he sh he should have been and my, my rankings for that.
[00:19:46] So that’s something I’m trying to keep in mind. Yes, I totally agree. I think he
[00:19:51] Sage: has to be, I think he has to be on ball or he is not engaged. Yeah. But little probably has to also do. Shane [00:20:00] shirt probably also has to do that
[00:20:01] Dustin: Off ball Defenses is hard to
[00:20:03] Sage: play in the league. I, I, well and, and unfortunately the last prospect we watched before Cam Whitmore actually is a good defender.
[00:20:11] So it, it, it’s tough to go from Jarris who does everything textbook Lee Perfect to Cam who got back cut to death against. guys that aren’t going to be in the N B A, not even gonna be rotation players in Europe, and he’s getting back cut. So I, yeah, I, I, I agree that, I agree that off ball is hard, especially for a guy like Cam and Nair, but right now, when I look at him, like if he’s not engaged fully, He’s not a good defender, but I think, I think years of, you know, learning a scheme and stuff will help.
[00:20:51] But I, if, if you rated him out of five stars, I think he’s a three star defender.[00:21:00]
[00:21:02] But like the only way he raises that grade is if he’s just a, a, a hellish defender in the passing. Because I had to watch him. I like, I didn’t believe that this Cam Whitmore in the highlights that I’m watching is, is the same guy that’s putting up like five points in a game and then 20 points in another game.
[00:21:27] The dis the, the disappearing act was crazy. So I watched, I’m like, he really isn’t engaged unless he has like the ball in his hands and he is guarding the, the, the, the point of attack. And I’m like, I don’t know if that’s really. Like tho those highlights take the best part of one game and then it’s like, okay, I see against SE for several different teams, but it’s only one highlight.
[00:21:50] It’s like, damn, everything looked good in this highlight package that somebody curated and made. So it looks like this guy’s a top five prospect. I don’t [00:22:00] believe that after watching him, I don’t believe that he’s a top five prospect, but I do believe his ceiling is really incredibly high cuz of his athletic.
[00:22:08] Dustin: I was watching something on Cam and, and one of the, the content creators made, uh, a comment and it stuck with me. Is, is, is Cam more and more just of an idea of prospect? I think so, yeah. Right. I mean, and they made the comparison to Patrick Williams, like when the Bulls took him forth. Patrick Williams wasn’t a finished product.
[00:22:27] He was more of an idea. And that, that idea has never fully materialized in, in Chicago. Um, injuries couldn’t be chalked up to that. Mm-hmm. But also, Just the production and what Chicago was hoping for ha hasn’t really been what, what they were looking for, especially taking a player that high. So I, I definitely have cooled on CAM as well.
[00:22:47] Like you definitely fall in love with some of the highlights and I. Off of the, off of the two feet, and you just see a bowling ball out there and you’re like, this, this guy’s really fun. And could just be just a, a destroyer, uh, of, of oppositions if [00:23:00] he’s on your, your roster. And I was definitely ready to take him, I think with our top 10 pick.
[00:23:05] But I’d be more comfortable, I think in the late teens, early twenties. Again, he’s not gonna last that long. He’s not lasting with that. But I, I, I just, I do, I think he’s more of an idea. And we were texting. , yes. He has one of the highest ceilings of this, of this class, but he also has a pretty, pretty low floor.
[00:23:23] So the range is, is pretty vast. And the chances of cam hitting
[00:23:29] Sage: that ceiling, so unlikely ,
[00:23:31] Dustin: he’s pretty minuscule . Like we’re, we’re not, we’re not talking about, uh, you know, a Zion or even a Barclay where they’re producing at the collegiate level. So you can somewhat anticipate that at the the NBA level.
[00:23:45] Like when you have a player who. inconsistent in their production. That makes it a little bit more challenging to say, okay, well if they’re not producing here, what makes us think that they’re gonna be able to do it consistently at the NBA level? And yes, there are differences between the two styles [00:24:00] of play, the competition, the rules, spacing, all of the above.
[00:24:04] But generally, when you get these unicorn type talent, They put it together against a level of competition. It’s one of the reasons why I’m, I, I am high on Victor WMA because when he goes up against competition, he looks like the best player on the floor. That’s what you wanna see, because you can then say, okay, well if he’s here, he’s, he’s basically ready for his promotion.
[00:24:23] Right? It’s, it’s no different than anybody in the workforce. You’re doing your job great. It’s not like, oh man, this person shows a lot of potential, but when we get them on a call, they kind of clam. . Right? And, and then you want to give that, that promotion, you wouldn’t feel great about that. So that, that, that’s the hesitation I have.
[00:24:42] Um, I am, when
[00:24:44] Sage: is the last time bully ball wings worked?
[00:24:48] Dustin: That’s also a very valid point because you does bully ball work in the N B A I. I don’t know. Unless you’re a freak. Unless you’re a one of one, like, like Zion, like. Look [00:25:00] back at Michael Beasley and one of the reasons why I didn’t believe Beasley was going to work in the league because yes, he had a handle and yes, he had a jumper, but nearly, I felt like three-fourths of his production was going down in the paint and just bullying over undersized undermatched defenders and just getting easy hooks and, and in lands.
[00:25:18] And same thing kind of with Keegan Murray in Exactly. I was about to
[00:25:21] Sage: say that, but I didn’t wanna be a
[00:25:22] Dustin: hater in Iowa. Um, that’s, , you can say that’s him as a prospect, but what you’re really looking at at Keegan Murray is what’s his MBA skill that’s going to be translatable and. Jump shooting. Yeah. Like that’s what he’s able to do.
[00:25:38] Like you have to really remove everything he was able to do inside the paint, because that is not going to be applicable at this level. So when you’re looking at a prospect and you see, oh man, Cam’s just going in there and just dominating these guys. Get Robb the rebound where three or four players and putting it back, that’s not going to happen.
[00:25:55] That’s not gonna happen against PJ Tucker and Joel and bead. That’s not gonna happen against Brooke and Giannis [00:26:00] like it, it just, it won’t. So what can he do that will be able to take over and produce at, at the, at the league level? Um, I’m excited to hear your, your comp sage, who do you have as his absolute floor and mine are, are very wide and kind of off the wall.
[00:26:17] Sage: I believe in a shot to be average. I think that he’s athletically capable of being a good player. I think. Terence Ross is gonna be his floor and Terence Frost has been in a league for a long time and now is on a competitive roster for the first time in a very long time. But like I, I, I see Cam as like a rotation guy that can be dis deployed in a very specific way and he can use the God-given gifts.
[00:26:46] And I know Terrence Ross scored 50 ones. I don’t really think Cam’s gonna do that, but I do think. Most likely Kaston will be in the league for 10 plus years because of the athleticism and the fact that he’s going to be a, a blue chip
[00:26:59] Dustin: talent. [00:27:00] My floor is, uh, much lower. Uh, if the shot doesn’t come around and he’s not able to.
[00:27:10] Get that first kind of burst, um, to get by defenders. I look at a guy like Stanley Johnson who kind of came outta Arizona with a man’s body and he was dominating summer league. Like every, I was like, oh man, this was the steal of the draft. And then he just goes to Detroit and it really never materializes for him.
[00:27:28] He’s not able to out muscle out quick, and he’s out of the league. Like I, I think his floor is the rookie contract’s. We don’t hear from Cam Whitmore anymore. Like I, I do think that is a potential outcome for him. But when you see my, my ceiling, you’ll, you’ll see just how you’ll see, you’ll see that, uh, I think a more league average, uh, middle of the road comparison.
[00:27:55] Arkansas, Razorback, middle of the nineties, Corless Williamson. Um, [00:28:00] big, nasty, you know. He was a player who kind of played like a bat outta hell, undersized forward, athletic as all hell, and just played the passing lanes, finished with a lot of authority. Now Cam has a already, he’s kinda like a Gen Z version of that.
[00:28:15] He’s able to play on the perimeter a little bit more, but still you’re looking at a junkyard dog type of player who’s just willing to go in there and do the dirty work. Obviously has that dog in him, and if you’re drafting, and Carlos Williamson was also taken in the lottery by, by the Sacramento. Won and Addie with, with Arkansas in 94.
[00:28:34] Um, so if you’re drafting Cam, I think you can expect Carlos Williamson, he played multiple contracts, was a role player, uh, f for many years and had had had a fine career. Would you have taken him in the lottery knowing what you know now? Probably not, but I think that’s the dice role you’re gonna have to take with Cam like, I think eight outta 10 times, you’re gonna be like, ah, I don’t know if we should have taken that high.
[00:28:56] You’re just really banking on those one or two chances that Yeah, we got the seal of the [00:29:00] draft here. Yeah. So that, that’s where I have him. Middle of the road.
[00:29:02] Sage: That’s a very good one, man. That is a very good one. I was thinking, I was thinking Gerald Wallace for the 75th, but I wa I’ve watched a game of him today and I was, , he reminds me of Wiggins when he was in college with the athletic profile, the fact that he can’t really do anything on his own.
[00:29:25] He had to get assisted buckets. So, uh, uh, maybe Minnesota ar uh, Andrew Wiggins. Cause I, I don’t if if
[00:29:34] Dustin: he, if he hits, he’s gotta be a thicker Wiggins though,
[00:29:36] Sage: right? Oh yeah, he definitely has. He’s a thick boy, Andrew Wiggins. Okay. Okay. I’m very excited to hear what you’re, Your 90, 95th percentile outcome is for
[00:29:47] Dustin: him.
[00:29:47] I mean, 99th percentile. Like if I’m seeing those highlights of him doing, you know, two foot euros and put back dunks, that’s Sixers. Barclay to me.
[00:29:57] Sage: Damn. Really hires me. Yes. [00:30:00]
[00:30:00] Dustin: That that’s he if, if he is able to get that in his bag, what Barclay was able to do. Barclay was able to have just enough of a first step and then he used his power to get to the lane.
[00:30:13] I don’t ever think he’s gonna get to the back to the basket game like Barclay, but I don’t think the game is going that way either. So I think he’s a more modern Barclay. Barclay added the three point shot. A lot of people don’t remember that, but he was. Taking and making a little bit of threes, especially late in the games and, and nailing them.
[00:30:29] Um, the, the rebounding there, there’s potential. Barky had a lot of dog in him. Barky had a lot of athleticism and just, just a one of a kind. And that’s kind of what I can think of. Um, it’s really hard to say, but that’s what what I’m saying. Like if you’re looking at a player that could, you’re drafting a player that could be added the league by his rookie contract or could be a potential hall of fam.
[00:30:52] that’s why he’s so unique, um, as, as a player. And I do understand why teams would have him high on their board, but I mean, it is a [00:31:00] bit of a, I mean, no pun intended, it is a lottery ticket that, that you’re, that you’re purchasing with, with, with Cam Whitmore, your odds may not be high, but if you hit, you
[00:31:09] Sage: hit.
[00:31:10] So I don’t even put the, the, he is a power forward in my mind cuz I just ne never believed that he was tall enough to, to be that. So I looked at wings. I, I, there’s two guys that I think he reminds me the most of, and that’s Anthony Edwards and Jaylen Brown. I think that he’s gonna skew more Jaylen Brown than he is Anthony Edwards, cuz ants has creation abilities.
[00:31:36] Or Jaylen Brown, of course does, but he’s also a really bad dribbler for his position, just like Cam. So I, I’m thinking a Jaylen Brown Edwards hybrid. I mean, shit, that’s, that’d be a game changing player. But I just, honestly, I think he tapped out at Minnesota, Andrew Wiggins. Cause I just truly like, I [00:32:00] believe that it’s there.
[00:32:01] I just think that a lot of shit has to go right for him to achieve the 90th percentile. Like when we look at Jarris Walker, I don’t really think that. , sure he has to hit at a league average level, but he can attain that. But with, with cams, like I, he has to attain like eight different things in order for him to get that Jaylen Brown comp or the, he has to hit everything in the world, has to go right for him to hit the Charles Barkley Comp.
[00:32:29] So like, yeah, he has the ceiling, but I, I just don’t think he reaches it because of all the things that have to go. , like I can, I can’t be that lucky to think that the 10 things that I need to go right to get this thing that I want, it happens. I just, you know, like maybe he’s that lucky, but I just don’t believe that a human can get that lucky with everything going on and how flaw he is now with all of the stuff we talked about.
[00:32:57] But the ceiling is so high. Like if, [00:33:00] if we drafted him, hopefully with the Nix pick, I could talk myself into. But right now, uh, for watching him play basketball, I’m like, he’s really underwhelming me.
[00:33:14] All right. You got anything else you wanna say or did we wrap it up on Cam Woodmore?
[00:33:18] Dustin: I think we, we, we wrapped it up pretty, pretty good. Um, we’ll be back again for another episode of Holy Backboard this weekend. We’ll have another future Friday, uh, the following week at Prospect T B D I thought we were doing.
[00:33:31] Okay. I guess we’re doing Jet Howard from, from Michigan. .
[00:33:35] Sage: Alright. I enjoy watching Michigan play basketball though, John. Howard’s a pretty damn good
[00:33:39] Dustin: coach. Um, thank you all for listening. Sage, let our listeners know where they can find us and uh, let’s take this one on home.
[00:33:45] Sage: We are available on iTunes, Stitcher, Himalaya podcast everywhere where you get your podcast.
[00:33:50] We are there. Leave a five star review, comment, and share, uh, when we post online. And, uh, thank you so much for listening and we’re outta here [00:34:00] Bruce.
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