Weeks ago, the Houston Rockets made the tough decision to finally off-load scoring wing Cam Whitmore to the Washington Wizards.
Whitmore was seen as the 2023 draft’s biggest slider, eventually falling to Houston at No. 20. He came in as a talented scorer on the wing — and while he showcased plenty of firepower — was never able to really exit the launch pad, making him available to teams league-wide.
The market wasn’t booming for Whitmore, as the Rockets received just two second round picks in return. But it was clear via the team’s messaging that they still valued him as a future scorer in the NBA.
While Whitmore never fully got his chance to shine with the organization, it was due more to the team’s rapid ascension in the West more than anything.
“I just think we’re not a developmental team right now,” Rockets General Manager Rafael Stone said of the Whitmore deal. “We wanted to provide Cam [Whitmore] with the opportunity to do, in his career, what we still very much believe he can do.”
With the Wizards, Whitmore will have ample opportunity to get shots up and develop his game. While he’s known as a scorer, he still has a ways to go in developing his all-around game: defense, passing, decision-making and more. And his new squad should afford him those reps.
“I think Cam’s insanely talented,” Stone continued. “A really nice young man. And [we] wanted to provide him an opportunity to go home, and be in a situation where he can really play through mistakes in a way we never could afford him, just in the iteration of the Rockets that he joined.”
Washington is set to be one of the worst teams in the league next year, led by a mismatched group of up-and-coming developmental prospects, and veterans in need of late-career surges. If Whitmore's unable to find his NBA niche here, there's a chance he might not be a fit for rotations in general.
On the flip side, Whitmore could blossom with added opportunity and, as Stone put it, a place to work through woes.
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