Former Overtime Elite guard Amen Thompson and Villanova forward Cam Whitmore have officially signed their rookie scale contracts with the Rockets, per NBA.com’s official transactions log.
Known as a top-tier athlete, Thompson averaged 16.4 points, 5.9 assists, 5.9 rebounds and 2.3 steals on .566/.250/.656 shooting last season for the City Reapers, who won the Overtime Elite championship. He was the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft, one spot ahead of his twin brother Ausar Thompson.
Whitmore was viewed as a potential top-five pick early in the pre-draft process, but his stock was said to be falling in the days leading up to June 22, as rumors of medical concerns and poor workouts circulated. He ultimately slipped all the way to Houston at No. 20 after a freshman year in which he averaged 12.5 PPG and 5.3 RPG and earned Big East Rookie of the Year honors.
As our chart of rookie scale salaries for 2023 first-rounders shows, Thompson should have a cap hit around $8.8MM this season, while Whitmore’s figures to be $3.2MM. They’ll earn up to $40MM and $15.6MM, respectively, over the course of their four-year rookie deals.
We’re tracking all of this year’s draft pick signings right here.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
I read a report wherein some team’s exec stated Cam’s interviews seemed “zombie-ish” whatever that meant.
Whatever it was, it cost him probably tens of millions of dollars…
That’s actually the very first thing I noticed when the rookie scale thread came up the other day. Hope that gives him a chip on his shoulder to prove everyone wrong
Yeah, looks to be $5.6 MM @yr./$22.4 MM 0ver 4 yrs
Cam lost 2-4 mill a yr for 4 yrs. Easily should have been a top 10 pick. Rockets good fortune. Let’s see if they do right by him. Cam has an NBA body now. He can be part of rotation right away. Right now Rockets have Eason, Tate, Cam, Amen who all can play the 3 or wing. Green is the SG of this team. I’m sure eventually they want Cam to start at the 3.
I thought the rockets looked their best when jabari played at the 5, so I’m hoping to see some combination of a small ball lineup with KPJ/Amen, Jalen, Cam, Tari, Jabari. They’d be a very athletic group that can get out and run!