HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610)- Cam Whitmore flashed many of the tools on Friday that had him at the top of a lot of draft boards while seeing his first NBA action since December 2.
In the final 14 minutes of the Rockets 122-96 win over the Dallas, Whitmore finished with 14 points, on 6-of-12 shooting, 4 rebounds and 2 assists and nearly hit his head on the rim while throwing down an alleyoop off a 40-foot pass from Nate Hinton.
"Just use my minutes as useful as I can be and just be productive and just help my team anyway possible," Whitmore said.
With more established players ahead of him, the Rockets have brought Whitmore along slowly during his rookie season. He's spent most of his time in Rio Grande Valley, where he's averaged 26 points on 47.5 percent shooting in 13 games.
"He's killing it," Rockets guard Fred VanVleet told SportsRadio 610. "I'm watching his games. He's looking good, he's looking aggressive, he's making reads, he's making the simple plays, things that he wasn't doing before, so you just hope that the growth continues to proceed throughout the season, but I'm proud of him, the way he's handling everything."
Friday's offensive success notwithstanding, don't expect Whitmore to find his way into Ime Udoka's rotation any time soon. He was the tenth player off the bench against the Mavs on a night the Rockets were without Tari Eason and Reggie Bullock, but the Rockets don't need him to be a major contributor right now.
"We do have a log jam with that position," Udoka said. "It's a good problem to have, and we'll let those guys battle it out, and whoever takes advantage will get the minutes."
The Rockets know Whitmore can score, but the shorthanded Mavs scored 44 points in the 14 minutes he was on the floor after scoring just 52 points for the game's first 34 minutes, and while Whitmore is still a work in progress on that end of the floor, Udoka is seeing progress in that area.
"I think his recognition of defense, what we're doing (has improved). You could see that tonight, the switching is slowed down for him some, on and off ball. He's always going to be aggressive offensively and physical."
Despite being ranked in the top five on some public draft boards, Whitmore was available to the Rockets with the 20th pick in last June's draft. His NBA impact may not be felt much this season, but VanVleet believes he could one day be a star.
"He's a convertible. No Ceiling."
