Whitmore, projected in top 10, not ‘fazed’ by slide

Cam Whitmore was projected by many to be a lottery pick, but he fell to the Houston Rockets at No. 20 in the NBA draft Thursday night.

ESPN’s final mock draft had Whitmore going No. 8 overall to the Washington Wizards. The versatile 6-foot-7 wing averaged 12.5 points and 5.3 rebounds last season as a freshman at Villanova.

Whitmore said afterward that he is fine with where he was picked and that he entered the night without expectations of who would draft him or when.

“I’ve been overlooked a lot of times in my life, so it didn’t really faze me,” he said. “I’m just really happy to be in the NBA. I’ve been dreaming about that all my life.”

Whitmore disagreed with speculation that medical issues caused the drop.

“I promise you there’s not,” he said. “I have no idea. I don’t know what happened. But I feel fine. It’s my body. If they think it’s something different, they have their own opinions. But at the end of the day, it’s my body.”

Whitmore said he likes the versatility of Houston’s young players, including guard Amen Thompson, who the Rockets selected with the No. 4 overall pick. Whitmore described Thompson as “a great player, great athlete” and “somebody who I can definitely play alongside.”

“Everybody can do everything on the floor,” he said of the Rockets. “Defend, run the floor, rebound, block shots, they can shoot. That’s just an advantage. Everybody is an athlete. So there’s a lot of run and jump. Run up the floor, that’s my play style. I think it will be a great fit with those guys.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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