Nuggets sign former first-round pick Cam Whitmore to two-way deal

The Denver Nuggets are signing former first-round pick Cam Whitmore to a two-way contract, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Friday.

Whitmore has already been in Denver working out with the team, per Charania. The signing fills the Nuggets’ final two-way roster slot alongside guard K.J. Simpson and rookie forward Bryce Hopkins.

The move completes a pursuit I shared earlier this week when Marc Stein first linked the Nuggets to Whitmore. At the time, the question was whether Whitmore would compete for the 15th roster spot or land on a two-way. The answer — a two-way —which is a bargain for Denver.

Whitmore, the No. 20 overall pick in the 2023 draft out of Villanova, has averaged 10.5 points and 3.3 rebounds over 119 career games. He spent his first two seasons in Houston, where he flashed the kind of explosive athleticism and serviceable shooting in a 6-foot-6 frame that made him a lottery pick. But he was in and out of the Rockets’ rotation as the team ascended and was ultimately traded to Washington, where a blood clot in his shoulder limited him to just 21 games last season.

The Cavaliers acquired Whitmore from the Wizards last month in the multi-team deal that sent Peyton Watson to Cleveland, then promptly waived and stretched him. Whitmore’s path from Houston to Washington to Cleveland to the waiver wire to Denver has been turbulent for a 22-year-old, but the talent that made him a first-round pick hasn’t disappeared — he just needs a stable situation.

Whitmore gives the Nuggets a young, athletic wing who can score in bunches off the bench, and his two-way deal means the team avoids any additional luxury tax hit. Worth pointing out given how the summer has gone. Also something to note — he’s the youngest guy on the team even with three years in the league and two rookies on the squad.

The Nuggets now have their full complement of two-way players: Simpson, Hopkins and Whitmore. The 15th standard roster spot remains open, with Lonnie Walker IV on a training camp deal as the leading candidate to claim it. Training camp opens later this month in Boulder.

Whitmore’s addition quietly makes Denver’s depth more interesting than it looked a week ago. Between DeMar DeRozan and now Whitmore, the Nuggets have added two players since the Watson trade who could contribute real minutes — all on cheap deals. Whether that’s resourceful roster building or just the only option available to a team that refused to pay its homegrown talent is a matter of perspective.

For Whitmore, the opportunity is straightforward: prove he belongs on a contender’s roster after three years of upheaval. For Denver, the bet is that a former lottery pick they’ve liked for years still has upside worth exploring — and that a two-way contract is all it costs to find out.

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