Like, the skills are pretty clear. Terrific bounce, terrific speed of movement, terrific burst, terrific strength. Like a taller, longer Anthony Edwards in regards to his body.

He's got a bag handle-wise, he's good at getting downhill, and even though he's not a great 3 point shooter at present, he's not shy to bust out a setback from back there. Like with Edwards, think he can be a really good defender in matchups where he's locked in...

... but I kinda have some "feel for the game" issues. Bad shot selection. Not very good off ball on defense, from what I saw, and would gamble too often. He's also a *complete* ball stopper, to the point where his assist rate would be historically low for top 10 guard/wing picks (and easily the lowest in the class).

Sam Vecenie pointed out on his podcast during the year (and then I noticed) that Whitmore just doesn't make quick reads on the catch. He stops after the catch, looks around, thinks about what to do, then does it. And most of the time, what he does is "dance around with the ball, take a shot."

And while I could dismiss some of these things as inexperience-- he was hurt to start the year, that definitely hurts prospects-- it's just a really hard combo to have bad shot selection *and* never fucking pass the ball. Like, he's got a pretty decent ways to go in terms of impacting winning basketball imo. Maybe if he either passes more or becomes far efficient with his shot, he can be instant offense off the bench pretty early on in his career.

But I would kinda be concerned that Whitmore's best basketball might be after his rookie deal, and while he's got very real upside, you might get better productivity in the next 2-3 years from some other guys in the top 10. So I'd be hungry to draft him if I was on a tanking team... but if I'm trying to win anytime soon, I'd kinda let him slide.

My movies: http://russellhainline.com
My movie reviews: https://letterboxd.com/RussellHFilm/
My beer TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebeertravelguide