Who Could Houston Rockets Trade to Get Back Into 2025 Draft?

The 2024-25 NBA season came to an end Sunday, with the Oklahoma City Thunder defeating the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals to bring the first-ever title to Oklahoma City. That wasn't the only news that day as the Houston Rockets reportedly traded for future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant.

The move sent shockwaves through the NBA as a possible Durant trade has been the talk of the NBA since the regular season ended. In the reported trade, the Rockets would be sending the Phoenix Suns Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks.

The 10th pick the Rockets sent the Suns was their original pick. The Rockets traded with the Brooklyn Nets, who own the pick before the trade deadline. One of the second-round picks the Rockets are sending is this year's No. 59 pick. That means, for the first time in over a decade, the Rockets may not have a draft pick.

The Rockets will be making a selection in Wednesday's draft despite the report because the trade will not be official until July 6, when the new NBA season officially begins. That means whoever the Rockets pick will be heading to the Suns in less than two weeks.

There is a chance, however, that the Rockets may still make a pick that will be staying with Houston. Multiple reports suggest the Rockets could trade back into the 2025 draft if a player they have high on their draft board starts to fall.

That leads to the question of who the Rockets would trade to make a draft-day trade happen. One of the hang-ups, when it came to a Durant trade, was that the Suns wanted more in the trade. The Suns reportedly wanted Jabari Smith or Tari Eason added to the deal, along with one of their future picks that the Rockets own.

The Rockets stayed firm on their offer as they did not want to trade any future first-round picks or most of their young players like Smith, Eason or even Reed Sheppard. If the Rockets do try to trade back into the draft, one player may be on the trading block, and that is Cam Whitmore.

Whitmore was one of those players who fell in the draft, which is how the Rockets were able to draft him at pick 20 in the 2023 draft. Whitmore was seen as a high lottery pick for most of the offseason leading up to the 2023 draft before falling out of the lottery.

Despite a strong rookie campaign in which Whitmore became one of the best points-per-minute players in the league, his minutes were reduced in his second season, which eventually led to him spending time in the G League with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

Even when Whitmore did find success on the court with the Rockets, there were some questions about what his role was for the team. Following a win over the Dallas Mavericks, where Whitmore finished with 18 points in one of his best games of the season, Whitmore questioned his role on the team. That led Ime Udoka to state that he has had multiple conversations with Whitmore on precisely what they expected from him.

Whitmore finished the season, averaging only 16 minutes per game, with numerous dance performances (they did not play due to the coach's decision). A trade would probably consist of Whitmore going to a team drafting later in the lottery or the first round. It could provide Whitmore with more playing time on another team and the Rockets with a chance to get back into the lottery or late first round.

As mentioned earlier, it doesn't seem like the Rockets are willing to trade their other young players, so Whitmore may be the odd man out.

The Rockets are all in on winning a title now, so that may lead to even less time for Whitmore going forward and could lead to him possibly being part of a draft-day trade. However, if the Rockets do keep him this offseason, he may have a chance to work his way back into the rotation on a championship-level team.