Cam Whitmore might be the go-to scorer the Spurs need in the 2023 NBA Draft

Defense

The Villanova product has the tools to be a multi-positional defender in the NBA, with the lateral mobility and foot speed to slide with guards and contain their drives with his chest. He also has the strength to cover both forward positions effectively and hold his own against traditional centers in a pinch when they attempt to seal him down low.

Whitmore uses his quick hands and reactions to dislodge the ball against weak ballhandlers. He is effective at fronting taller players in the post and executing textbook swim moves to pickpocket careless entry passes with his six-nine wingspan. While the youngster was disruptive when engaged, he must eradicate a few bad habits.

The Big East Rookie of the Year was often undisciplined as a man-to-man defender. He routinely stood upright in a relaxed stance, opening his hips and allowing his assignment to blow past him and get to the rim with little resistance. And his screen navigation in the pick-and-roll was well below average as he failed to get skinny and went under against shooters.

Though he made some remarkable weakside rotations to offer secondary rim protection, the team defense is a work in progress. Whitmore was off-kilter on closeouts, fell for fakes, overhelped on drives without recovering to his man, gambled for steals to the detriment of his teammates, and had a tendency to relinquish backdoor cuts when ball-watching.

The talented frosh wasn't the best communicator either. Cam had several miscues on switches, giving up massive driving lanes, leaving tried-and-true deadeyes uncovered, and arriving too late to contest their shots. He looked turned around at times, frantically searching the floor for someone to defend as his teammates pointed him in the right direction.

Between his six-ten wingspan, god-given athletic gifts, and moments of defensive brilliance, it isn't difficult to envision Whitmore developing into a crucial two-way contributor for a competitive franchise. He has numerous shortcomings a dedicated coaching staff will need to polish, but he is well worth the investment of an early lottery pick from San Antonio.