Why the Villanova star may drop in 2023 NBA Draft

Editor’s note: This story was originally published prior to the NBA Draft and has been updated.

Every year, there is a player expected to hear his name called early in the draft but falls a bit lower than initially anticipated. One of the players in the 2023 NBA Draft who dealt with such a slide was Cam Whitmore.

He was a projected top-5 pick in the latest aggregate mock draft provided by HoopsHype. But he did not hear his name called until the No. 20 overall pick by the Houston Rockets.

Here is what you need to know: Before his freshman season, the Villanova star was named MVP during the 2022 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship tournament. Whitmore, however, was unfortunately on the sidelines for each of the first seven games of his collegiate career due to a thumb injury.

He eventually returned to the court and had a strong campaign for the Wildcats. The Big East Rookie of the Year averaged 12.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game during his one-and-done campaign in the NCAA.

Whitmore was one of just four Power Five freshmen to record at least 25 dunks and 25 shots from beyond the arc last season, per Bart Torvik. So why is his draft stock sliding?

Whitmore was seen “struggling at times with his shooting and intensity” during his individual team workouts, per ESPN draft expert Jonathan Givony.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Wasserman also shared an update about Whitmore (via Bleacher Report):

“There have been some concerns over Cam Whitmore’s medicals, which could cause a few teams to pass in the mid-lottery, per sources.”

Additionally, here is what one Eastern Conference executive told David Aldridge (via The Athletic):

“At the Hoops Summit, Whitmore was not a practice-type player and didn’t look very good during the week. But once he played, he was one of the better players in the game. That’s going to have to change at the NBA level. He’s going to have to exert some effort, some ability and skill level in practice for a head coach to put him in a game. He’s not going to be guaranteed minutes like he probably was at Villanova.”

You never want to see potentially poor medical information about a player.

But the upside is still strong for Whitmore, who measured with a 40.5-inch max vertical during the 2023 NBA Draft Combine and tested well in drills for speed and agility as well.

Whitmore uses that to attack the basket and he scored 0.76 points per touch on drives, per Stats Perform, which ranked as the best among projected first-rounders.

However, one scout told Seth Davis from The Athletic that there are questions about Whitmore’s “feel” for the game.

His coaches will need to see more playmaking from Whitmore. Among all prospects in a draftable range who finished at least 40 possessions as the ball handler in pick-and-roll sets, per Synergy, none opted to pass less often (22.7 percent) than Whitmore.