Once the new season begins, all eyes will be on San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama. To a certain extent, the same can be said 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.
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:
“A goal of mine is to definitely win Rookie of the Year,” 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.”
Can he actually do it? Can Whitmore shock the league and outperform both Wembanyama and Henderson, among others, in their debut season?
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.
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.