Ime Udoka's recent actions prove Rockets must explore Cam Whitmore trade this summer

The Houston Rockets have a lot of young talent.

Look at how this team was built. The Rockets didn't merely tank for three years. They also stockpiled first-round picks outside of the lottery. Their surplus of young talent became evident when they unceremoniously jettisoned Usman Garuba, Josh Christopher and TyTy Washington in one summer. Otherwise, they picked well:

So well that they struggle to find minutes for everyone.

Reed Sheppard has been one casualty. He's seen far less playing time than a typical third overall pick does. That said, at least he gets on the floor:

The same cannot be said for Cam Whitmore.

Rockets' Cam Whitmore has fallen out of rotation

That said, you don't have to go very far back into Rockets box scores to find the last game in which Whitmore made a major contribution.

It was March 3rd. The Rockets were playing the dreaded Thunder. Whitmore was on the floor for 40 whole minutes. He contributed 27 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals.

That's a healthy statline. Whitmore contributed across the board. Evidently, Ime Udoka saw something he disliked anyway.

Defensive lapses were likely the culprit. Whitmore has consistently struggled to stay focused on that end of the floor. Everyone knows he can fill up a box score, but he's not always able to play a winning brand of basketball.

The results speak for themselves. Since that contest, Whitmore is averaging 5.6 minutes per game in 3 contests. The two minutes of action he saw in the Rockets' last contest against the Magic spoke volumes. It was Houston's first game without Amen Thompson, and Whitmore still didn't get the nod.

That tells us everything we need to know.

Rockets must explore trades for Whitmore this summer

There's an adage - if you're not going to use it, you ought to lose it.

Whitmore is a flawed player with potential. He has the tools to be a premier scorer in this league:

He's not going to reach those heights if he can't get on the floor.

There have been hints that Whitmore is disgruntled already. Who could blame him? Just two years ago, he was expecting to hear his name called in the lottery. He slipped to 20th in the draft, and now he's on a team that won't play him.

It's hard to blame Udoka either. Whitmore is not a playoff-rotation NBA player at this moment. He has the same problems he's had all season. Beyond his routine defensive lapses, Whitmore remains allergic to passing.

It feels like the Rockets are apprehensive to move any of these young guys. The idea is seemingly to eventually package them in a blockbuster. That makes sense. If a superstar player is going to cost $100, the Rockets don't want to be standing around with $95 in their pockets trying to haggle when he becomes available.

Yet, paradoxically, they're (aggressively) devaluing Whitmore by keeping him off the floor. To extend the analogy, the Rockets have $100, but a five is so badly damaged that many vendors won't accept it.

So, this summer, they should seek someone who will. The team still has an excess of assets to trade for a star if that's what they want to do. In the meantime, if they can turn Whitmore into a knockdown shooter at any position, it will make the offense more functional in 2024-25. Alternatively, if they're trading for a star, they absolutely must include Whitmore in the package:

Young talent isn't worth much if you don't take advantage of it.