Rockets' Cam Whitmore Move Ranks Among NBA's Worst Offseason Deals

Cam Whitmore entered the NBA with a ton of promise. So much, that the Houston Rockets contemplated selecting him with the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.

They ultimately were able to land him with the 20th pick, strangely enough, clearing the way for them to select Amen Thompson at pick four. Whitmore has been a bucket, albeit in a limited sample.

As a rookie, he averaged 12.3 points, 45.4 percent from the field, and 35.9 percent from long-range in just 18.7 minutes of action -- good for 23.7 points per 36 minutes. In his second NBA season, he averaged 9.4 points on 44.4 percent from the floor and 35.5 percent from three -- good for 20.8 points per 36 minutes. 

He can clearly put the ball in the hole. But he struggled to do the other things (like get his teammates involved, make the right reads, and defend).

Because of this, Rockets coach Ime Udoka found it difficult to dish out playing time to Whitmore. Udoka emphasizes giving maximum effort on the defensive end of the floor.

Whitmore's scoring ability would've impressed former Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni --although he despised playing younger, more inexperienced players.

Isaiah Hartenstein is a great example. He just secured a massive $87 million contract from the Oklahoma City Thunder and won a championship in his first season with the franchise. 

Yet he was unable to land significant playing time on a Rockets team that went full-scale microball.

Anyways, back to Whitmore. 

The Rockets traded him to the Washington Wizards this summer, in exchange for multiple second-round draft picks.

The deal was listed by Fadeaway World's Eddie Bitar as one of the NBA's worst offseason moves.

"Houston shipped 2023 first-round pick Cam Whitmore to Washington for two second-round picks, a questionable return on potential alone. Whitmore, still raw but athletic and developing, looked poised to take on a larger role in the Durant-era Rockets since the team lacks natural shooting guards. 

To be fair to Houston, perhaps they wanted to move Whitmore to give him a chance to develop his game. If that's true, that's honorable, but that still doesn't make it not one of the worst trades of the offseason. Perhaps the Rockets should have been a little bit more cutthroat and kept Whitmore in his role."

Bitar acknowledges the Rockets' desire to give Whitmore a bigger role, but refutes their motive, stating that they should've been more "cutthroat" and deprived Whitmore of a legitimate NBA opportunity elsewhere. 

The Rockets certainly don't regret making a move in the best interest of Whitmore, as they've worked tirelessly to rebuild their image and old reputation of viewing players as assets and mere numbers on a spreadsheet.