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This summer, the Washington Wizards have done what any team coming off an 18-64 season should do: overhaul its roster. Not only did they deal Jordan Poole and Saddiq Bey to the New Orleans Pelicans, but they later lumped that with a Houston Rockets trade that brought them Cam Whitmore.
The full trade terms are below:
Wizards get:
G CJ McCollum
F Kelly Olynyk
F Cam Whitmore
Chicago Bulls' 2026 second-round pick (from Pelicans)
Pelicans get:
G Jordan Poole
F Saddiq Bey
G Micah Peavy (draft rights, 2025 No. 40 overall pick)
Rockets get:
Bulls' 2026 second-rounder (from Wizards)
Sacramento Kings' 2029 second-rounder (from Wizards)
G Mojave King (draft rights)
Combining the two trades allows the Wizards to not use any salary exceptions on Whitmore's contract, via The Athletic's Josh Robbins. They can now save those for whenever they're under salary cap stress, such as the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which allows teams under the first apron to take on contracts up to four years with a maximum of five percent annual raises.
Meanwhile, swapping Poole and Bey's multi-year contracts for McCollum and Olynyk's expiring deals will help open approximately $100 million in cap space for next summer. Khris Middleton's $33.3 million player option will also be off the books, along with Marcus Smart's $21 million salary.
On top of that, the Wizards added another skilled Maryland native to their young core.
Cam Whitmore brings scoring chops to Wizards
Washington got as good a return as it could've for two second-round picks. Whitmore, who the Rockets drafted No. 20 overall out of Villanova in 2023, has shown potential as a scorer and shot creator over his first two seasons. The 21-year-old scored a season-high 34 points (13-19 FG, 7-12 3 PT) over 37 minutes against the Los Angeles Lakers on April 11, and he shot 60.5 percent (55 percent 3 PT) from the field over 16.7 minutes per game in April. He also shot 51.1 percent (53.3 percent 3 PT) over 11.7 minutes per game in May.
Additionally, Whitmore has a career 52.9 percent clip from two-point range and a 53.2 effective field goal percentage, which accounts for the extra point on three-point shots. The 6-foot-7-inch, 230-pounder's efficiency could go down with a bigger role on the Wizards, but his game will improve from added minutes.
Whitmore's potential was capped on a win-now Rockets team that just acquired Kevin Durant, but Washington is the perfect team for him to grow with. The Wizards are in the business of developing high-upside young players on rookie contracts, and the 2023 Big East Freshman of the Year fits that bill. He's a shoot-first wing on a team that could use some scoring help, as it finished last in offensive rating last season.
Furthermore, Whitmore is another hometown kid to pair with Baltimore native Bub Carrington. That doesn't guarantee success for either player, but it's a fun storyline for the fans, which isn't easy to achieve for non-contending teams. He grew up a Wizards fan, which he recently showed with a picture from his youth of former Wizards center Marcin Gortat signing a jersey for him.
This trade now gives Washington nine players taken in the first round over the last three NBA Drafts. The others are:
G Bilal Coulibaly (No. 7 overall, 2023)
F/C Alex Sarr (No. 2 overall, 2024)
G Bub Carrington (No. 14 overall, 2024)
G AJ Johnson (No. 23 overall, 2024)
G/F Kyshawn George (No. 24 overall, 2024)
G Dillon Jones (No. 26 overall, 2024)
G Tre Johnson (No. 6 overall, 2025)
F Will Riley (No. 21 overall, 2025)
They might not all pan out, but the current front office is setting itself up for success by having a foundation of young talent to go with financial flexibility and a war chest of draft capital moving forward. The team must finish in the bottom four of the league standings next season to guarantee the return of its top-eight protected 2026 pick from the New York Knicks, but it's in position to rise the ranks in 2026-27 and beyond.
Trade grade: A
