Rockets reluctantly give up! The 21-year-old scorer goes to the Wizards, the Rockets unlock their salary

The Houston Rockets sent away another potential star! Young forward Cam Whitmore is about to wear the Washington Wizards' jersey. What are the plans of the two teams behind this deal?

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On July 6, Shams, a well-known NBA reporter, revealed that the Houston Rockets have decided to send forward Whitmore to the Washington Wizards. In exchange, the Rockets will receive two future second-round picks. Subsequent news confirmed that the two signings are second-round draft picks in 2026 (from the Bulls) and 2029 (from the Kings).

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Whitmore is from Maryland and is about to turn 21. He was selected by the Rockets with the 20th pick in the first round at the 20th pick in the NBA Draft in 2023, when he had just graduated from Villanova University. Before the draft, many experts believed that he had the ability to compete in the top ten or even the top five picks, so the Rockets chose him with the 20th pick at the time, which was regarded by many as a successful "limited bargaining".

Although Whitmore did show his bright spot as a substitute scorer in his first two seasons in the NBA, he has never really gained a foothold in the Rockets with a strong lineup and became a stable member of the regular rotation lineup. In the two seasons of 2023-2025, he played a total of 98 games, averaged 17.4 minutes per game, scored 10.8 points and 3.4 rebounds, shooting percentage of 44.9%, three-point shooting percentage of 35.7%, and free throw shooting percentage of 70.7%.

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Shams pointed out that in recent weeks, Rockets management has been communicating with Whitmore and his agents, hoping to find a new owner who can provide him with more opportunities. For the Wizards, who are in the reconstruction stage and urgently need young players to grow into core strength, Whitmore has a great hope of getting more stable and more important playing time here. The Wizards' rotation lineup is currently quite young, with seven players aged 21 or under, including the newly joined Whitmore, as well as Sal, Coolibarley, Trae Johnson, AJ Johnson, Carrington and Keishon George. The Wizards are quickly building a potential lineup with under-21 players as the core, and look forward to adding more strength to the 2026 draft.

For the Rockets, after Durant and Capela's contract officially came into effect, the team's salary space was already very tight, approaching the first luxury tax line (hard salary cap) stipulated by the league. The deal successfully helped the Rockets free up valuable cap space and increase operational flexibility.

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On the other hand, the Wizards have enough salary exceptions to easily accept Whitmore's salary of $3.54 million next season. They are expected to use the $5.3 million trade special case generated when Johnny Davis was sent away in February this year. Of course, the team also has options such as trading special case, middle class special case and biennial special case available. The Wizards need to decide whether to execute the 2026-27 team option worth $5.46 million in Whitmore contract before October 31 this year. If the Wizards choose to execute this option, Whitmore will be eligible to discuss early renewal of their rookie contract with the team one year later.

It is understood that before the Rockets finally finalized the deal with the Wizards, the Bulls and Nuggets and other teams also expressed varying degrees of interest in Whitmore.