Rockets may have left Wizards in nightmare scenario with Cam Whitmore trade

As the Houston Rockets made major moves this offseason, one trade that went relatively under the radar was their shipping off of young wing Cam Whitmore to the Washington Wizards.

While Whitmore, who was selected in the first-round of the 2023 NBA Draft by the Rockets, has shown promise in his young, limited career, if things go wrong the Wizards could now be stuck with a number of stagnant young players in their ongoing rebuilding attempt: an absolute nightmare scenario that Houston would have greatly contributed to.

While it remains to be seen how the deal will ultimately shake out, Washington must hope and pray that, as soon as this season, some of their high draft picks begin to show flashes of stardom, or they could be right back to square one with their tanking process.

The Washington Wizards need Cam Whitmore to pan out quickly

Whitmore, across two seasons and 98 games with the Rockets, averaged 10.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists, shooting 44.9% from the field and displaying flashes of a developing offensive game.

Yet, with a stacked young core in Houston and the team already being ahead of schedule on their path to contention, Whitmore actually saw less minutes in his second season than he did in his first, and the organization's decision to move on from him was a sign not of his lack of worth as a player but of the current position the team is in.

Whitmore projects not as a role player or a 3-and-D wing but as a scorer, and he has shown potential to be that early on in his career. However, the Wizards, as they attempt to climb out of the basement of the Eastern Conference standings, need him to become that as soon as possible, and Whitmore, frankly, is still a long way off.

Moreover, the young core that they have assembled, which includes Bilal Coulibaly, Bub Carrington, Tre Johnson, Alex Sarr and, now, Whitmore, looks to be very ball-dominant, with Coulibaly being the only stolid defender among the group. Moreover, each of these players has a low floor in addition to a high ceiling.

Johnson, as a knockdown perimeter shooter, will need to be far and away the best shooter in his class in order to make his draft position worth it. Carrington, in his rookie season at point guard for Washington, showed flashes of an offensive game but only shot 40% from the field and struggled to help facilitate the offense. Coulibaly, through two seasons in the league, has yet to put together his perimeter shot and his mid-range game consistently.

To be clear, these players are all very, very young, and no one is completely writing them off. However, the Wizards are now so dependent upon low-floor developmental pieces that there is significant room for this to turn into a nightmare scenario very quickly, and Whitmore could be just the latest development in that trend.