After leaving Houston and bouncing around the league, Cam Whitmore finds himself signing a two-way contract for a potential contender.
The Houston Rockets went through a tough stretch of years after the James Harden era came to an end. A majority of their struggles were both self-inflicted, and intentional, as it used to be the best way to rebuild your team. Tank for multiple seasons and acquire as many high value draft picks as possible. Much of Houston’s current roster is still part of that process.
Unfortunately, all of those draft picks didn’t pan out. Cam Whitmore is the most recent example, getting drafted 20th overall in 2023. That’s only 16 picks after Amen Thompson, who just signed a 208 million dollar contract extension.
Whitmore is on the complete other end of the spectrum, signing a two-way contract with the Denver Nuggets earlier today. Before that, he was without an NBA job at all. The Cleveland Cavaliers waived him almost immediately after acquiring him in a trade last month, and he remained unsigned until now.
Perhaps he’ll be able to stay healthy and rebuild his reputation around the league on a two-way deal in Denver, but it hasn’t looked great in his first three years. Nobody has ever questioned his talent as a guy who can jump out of the gym and knock down the three ball, but it still hasn’t worked out.
A lot of that is due to a combination of playing time and health, with him only getting on the court for 98 games in his first two seasons with Houston. He got a respectable amount of burn, logging 17.4 minutes per game, per Basketball-Reference, but didn’t show enough to stay on the team.
The Washington Wizards liked what they saw, though, and were willing to take a chance on the youngster just before his 21st birthday. They got him in exchange for two second round picks on July 6th, 2025, officially ending his relatively short stint with the Rockets.
After only 21 outings with his hometown team last season, he had to be shut down for the remainder of the year with Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), which is strangely getting more common in the NBA. Thankfully for him, players like Victor Wembanyama, Damian Lillard, and a familiar face, Ausar Thompson, have all bounced back from the same condition.
Even if Cam Whitmore didn’t excel with the Rockets, it’d still be great to see him find success in the NBA. Usman Garuba and Josh Christopher are already two botched first round draft picks, so Rafael Stone might have some explaining to do if there’s a third guy out of the league this quickly.
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