Cam got 4, 5, and 5 assists in his last 3 games. I don't know which point guard he was finally channeling but I hope to see more of it.
If Jalen starts off with his head up his ass yet again, I hope they move Cam to the starting lineup after a few games. There is no need to waste 2/3 of a season trying to get Jalen going when we have Cam waiting in the wings.
With FVV, Amen, and Cam, it's going to really be difficult to justify giving Jalen Green minutes if Cam and Amen show normal progression and Jalen doesn't massively improve.
They really don't have the same roles for Cam to be a replacement. You gonna run 10 pnr possessions a game of him being a primary pnr ball handler? If Green struggles in his 4th season it's time to move on from him and see what you can get for him. Sure. Agree there. But Cam wouldn't be the replacement. Hopefully you can get someone who can.
That kinda depends upon how they choose to deploy Amen - As a guard it eats up a lot of minutes. As a 5 like at the end of the season, it still leaves a lot of minutes unaccounted for at the guard spot. My hope is that they get some Jalen insurance along with Cam - that draft pick or through FA with a quality pickup. If this team expects to be in the playoffs next season, they can't have Jalen shiit the bed for 60 games.
Hell yes, he did in the Gleague, he did in college, he can in the pros, his handle is better than Jalens DD
Cam has the athletic tools that can't be taught, which is a plus. It's just important that he works on the stuff that can be taught so he can capitalize on his physical advantages. Look at Anthony Edwards. He was 6'4", 225lb coming out of Georgia and very coordinated and comfortable in his body. He's still that height and weight, there was no need to fill out. He was already an absolute unit. Doesn't look like it limited his upside to me. No, I'm not calling Cam the next Anthony Edwards.
He didn't do it in college lol. What guards in college run high usage pnr primary ball handler possessions that average .7 assists to 1.6 turnovers per game? Cam Whitmore at the moment with his current ability cannot maintain a live dribble in a set half court offense against set defenders loaded up on him in traffic. He isn't going to do things like snake through multiple defenders in the ft area with a live handle. You can isolate Cam where he just needs to beat one man to score at the rim. You can have Cam attack the rim against a defense that is scrambling and not set. He's also a really great one man fast break. He's really good at all those things I just mentioned. That's where his talent shows through. But he isn't a pnr ball handler. Not even close.
You don't want Cam for the same role... Cam can actually shoot so you have FVV as the primary ball handler and you use Sengun as the secondary. Cam and Smith spread the floor and you're stuck with Brooks.... but Amen would be better as the 5th starter.
He has the ability to dribble has very good handles, but his primary function is to score, the more PT he gets the more he passes the ball. Jalen has tiny hands, an inconsistent handle and jump shot - Cam will take his spot and Jalen will go to the 6th man microwave role where he belongs. DD
He didn't do it in college lol. What guards in college run high usage pnr primary ball handler possessions that average .7 assists to 1.6 turnovers per game? Cam Whitmore at the moment with his current ability cannot maintain a live dribble in a set half court offense against set defenders loaded up on him in traffic. He isn't going to do things like snake through multiple defenders in the ft area with a live handle. You can isolate Cam where he just needs to beat one man to score at the rim. You can have Cam attack the rim against a defense that is scrambling and not set. He's also a really great one man fast break. He's really good at all those things I just mentioned. That's where his talent shows through. But he isn't a pnr ball handler. Not even close. Jalen Green also came into the league as a scorer. Scorers still create looks for open teammates. There is a baseline level of ball handling skills where it is impossible to average more turnovers than assists because at a certain level of ball handling you can manipulate defenses with your live dribble against set half court defenses to create easy reads to open teammates that don't require advanced court vision while also not exceeding your ball handling limit to commit more turnovers than those assists generated. Cam is not at that level of ball handling skills to average more assists than turnovers in high usage role where he is asked to dribble against set defenses loaded up on him.
Cam doesn't need to be the main pnr ball handler when we have FVV. All he needs to do is be able to receive a pass when open and make shots. That being said, I see no reason why he could not develop over time to take on more of the pnr ball handling responsibilities. I am glad you are on the same page with expectations about Jalen going into year 4. I fully expect him to do well making Cam more of a luxury. I will sour on him very quickly if he doesn't get it going within the first 5 - 10 games. By "getting it going", I mean at least 50% of his streak level as his floor.
I think we failed the rebuild if next season the go to possession is FVV and Sengun Pnr FVV came here to train up and then transfer the keys by his second season here where he plays a more complementary role. Our rebuild has a hard limit to it's ceiling if next season we are still having FVV be the guy with the highest usage as the primary pnr ball handler with the most possessions. So ya Cam won't be the replacement for Green. There is a reason why Stone said that Green has a non replicataible set of talents and skills on the roster.
I do not know about failure but if the veterans like FVV and DBrooks have more ratio on the winning percentage than let's say the young guys then that is a big reasont to be worried about it. This past season it was close to half half, I believe 60-40 Fred (sometimes DB) were the key for many wins as was Sengün and Amen. Also the Coach functioned more of a player's coach without ever playing in a game but his presence was always felt in those games.
Wut Anyways both Sengun and Dylan are below the 50th percentile in on/off impact this past season according to cleaning the glass. Dylan is around the same as Green at the 35 percentile. The only starter to be above 50 percentile is FVV. Jabari is by far the worst at 12 percentile.
If you paid attention to Cam in the Gleauge you know he can distribute and pass and quite well. The last 3 games of the year they opened that up for him and he averaged more than 4 assists on limited minutes. Cam is the future.....SG of the Houston Rockets. DD
If people are gonna keep making the comparison I’m gonna keep posting these stats. The Cam - Anthony Edwards comp is real. No im not saying Cam is going to be Anthony Edwards, but just look at these college stats: https://www.tankathon.com/players/compare?players=cam-whitmore--anthony-edwards Cam was a better shooter coming out of college and we’ve seen that transfer with a 36% 3pt his rookie year. I don’t think Cam can take people off the dribble like Ant can, but I think Ant is Cam’s best comp. Just look at how eerily similar their one and done college seasons were. now here is how their rookie nba seasons stack up per 36 min: ant - 52% TS, 33% 3pt, 21 pts, 1.3 stl, 5.2 reb Cam - 56% TS, 36% 3pt, 23 pts, 1.2 stl, 7.4 reb Cam had one of the best rookie seasons per 36 in NBA history as a 19yr old. Rookies don’t shoot 36% from 3 with high volume in the nba. For additional context, JDub shot 35% his rookie yr. This guy is going to be a allstar. Cam should be off the table in trade discussions.
I think this is a great example of how you can't use stats at face value and need to analyze things like respective roles and team situation each had.
per 36 rookie year for Ant and KJM: ant - 52% TS, 33% 3pt, 21 pts, 1.3 stl, 5.2 reb KJM - 59% TS 37% 3pt, 17 pts, 1.1 stl, 8.5 reb We might have made a mistake trading KJM.
