For most of the offseason, the Denver Nuggets have been strategically keeping their 15th roster spot open for salary cap reasons. But newcomer Cam Whitmore is certainly making his case to be converted from a two-way contract to that final roster spot the more we see of him. The move may just have to wait until he's played 50 games for strategic reasons, of course.
The Nuggets are still the only team in the league over the NBA's second apron penalty threshold, by $3.15 million, and any additional player added to the roster will add more fines and make it more difficult to make a trade to get back under the threshold by season's end. But if the Nuggets do have that 15th spot still open later in the season, it has Whitmore's name written all over it.
Whitmore would make so much sense for the last roster spot
Two-way players are limited to just 50 games played during the season, but once they hit 50, their contracts can be prorated for the remaining games left on the team's schedule. That's what happened with Spencer Jones last year just after the trade deadline passed, and it's what should be done with Whitmore this year. Two-way players can't play in the playoffs, but the Nuggets probably want Whitmore around for that.
The 6-foot-6 wing showed just how good his scoring talent is during the second half of the Nuggets' latest preseason game, a 117-106 victory against the Utah Jazz. Whitmore had 14 points in 14 minutes on 4-for-7 shooting from the floor. But what may have been the most impressive part of his outburst was all of the fouls he drew. Whitmore attempted 7 free throws and hit 6 of them, using his athleticism to beat his defenders who put him on the line to earn his points. And he did.
Whitmore has been impressing everyone on the Nuggets with his athleticism during training camp. But one of the things he needed to work on was a bit more polish in the rest of his game. He's got the perfect environment, surrounded by veterans like Aaron Gordon, to give him advice. And the Nuggets have new player development coaches to help bring the younger guys along, so the hope is that by the trade deadline, Whitmore is living up to his first-round pick potential.
The Nuggets already made the no-brainer move to acquire Whitmore on the two-way contract. They need to follow it up by giving him the 15th roster spot later in the season.
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