The Houston Rockets took care of business Wednesday night against the worst team in the league, cruising past the 1-11 Washington Wizards, 135-112. Houston’s 81 first-half points were the third-most in franchise history. While the game was never in doubt, the biggest storyline was the return of former Rocket Cam Whitmore.
Whitmore was Houston’s first-round pick in 2023 and appeared in 98 games over two seasons (with zero starts) before being traded to Washington this past offseason for two future second-round draft picks.
It never quite clicked for Whitmore in Houston, despite flashes of scoring potential and elite athleticism. Rockets head coach Ime Udoka cited the Rockets “number crunch” on Wednesday as the reason why.
“We’ve kind of always had depth since I’ve been here, and he kind of got caught in that shuffle,” Udoka said. “And then just some of the things we stressed offensively, defensively, for improvement we wanted to see [from] him, and he’d be a little up and down with that. But happy for the opportunity he’s getting now and hopefully takes advantage of that.”
Udoka also acknowledged that Whitmore’s new environment could benefit him long-term.
Why Cam Whitmore is a good fit with Wizards
“Going to a new situation with a young team, it’s going to take a little bit of time, and just him being young in his career as well, but [he has] all the talent and potential in the world,” Udoka said. “And so just to kind of see what he did the last two games, and that’s what Cam has done when he gets regular opportunity.”
Udoka mostly took the high road when reflecting on Whitmore’s time in Houston, where the young wing seemed to spend more time in the doghouse than in the actual rotation.
On paper, Whitmore seems like a good fit for the Rockets roster – an athletic off-ball wing who can play off point guard Amen Thompson, a player who knocked down 36% of his threes, and is currently averaging 17 points per game over his last three outings. But, in reality, he was never a good match for what Udoka and the Rockets were building.
Whitmore’s flaws – his tunnel vision, his defense, his unwillingness to pass and play within a system – outweighed his flashes of potential during his two-year stint in Houston.
“I haven’t really showed anything yet,” Whitmore said before dropping 11 points on his former team. “But, [as] I said before, it’s just the beginning, just the start of something special. So I didn’t really do anything yet, to be honest.”
The Wizards appear to be a more natural fit for Whitmore, who can get plenty of minutes on a young, struggling team that’ll allow the time for growing pains, as the third-year player attempts to figure things out.
The Rockets, however, could not afford those same luxuries. Houston is trying to win now, not develop long-term projects. And Whitmore simply wasn’t a fit for the system Udoka was building. Whitmore’s defense has never been a strength, nor has his ability to work within a team. He’s averaged 11 shot attempts per assist during his career.
Through Tuesday, he had assists on only 5.1 percent of his teammates’ made baskets, ranking him 118th among 126 forwards and wings who have played at least 100 minutes this season, according to Cleaning the Glass. Whitmore also ranked last among all Wizards players this season in passes per minute, averaging just 0.6, according to the NBA’s player-tracking database. He struggles to fit into an offense predicated on player movement and sharing the ball, which is what Houston has tried to curate.
Whitmore even admitted that his own father teases him about passing more.
“My mentality is really just to score first and if the score is not there, then kick the ball out and just find my teammates,” Whitmore said. “But that’s something I’ve kind of been dialing down on, actually trying to fully focus on this year.”
Whitmore will continue to produce highlight plays that could make Rocket fans wonder, “What if?” But he’s better suited for a team more concerned with highlights and player development than actual wins right now.
For a Rockets team with championship aspirations, moving on from their former first-round pick wasn’t just understandable — it was the right move.
