2 second round picks! What is the level of 20-year-old Whitmore?

The white demon, after all, left.

The latest report from famous reporter Shams, the Rockets and the Wizards reached a deal. The specific details are:

- The Rockets sent Whitmore

- The Wizards sent two second round picks

Follow-up news, the two second round picks obtained by the Rockets are the Bulls second round picks in 2026 and the Kings second round picks in 2029. Considering the record of the Bulls and Kings, and 2026 is still a big year for the draft, the value of these two second round picks is not low.

Let's talk about it first, the transaction is not surprising.

Long before the free market officially opened, there was news that the Rockets were selling Whitmore. When the Durant trade occurred, the Suns also asked the Rockets for Whitmore, but in the end the Suns chose more second round picks.

It is worth mentioning that after Finney Smith joined the Rockets, there was also news that Whitmore may be sent to the Lakers as a bargaining chip in Finney Smith's first signing and then exchange transaction.

However, from the final result, Lakers fans were happy in vain. Finney Smith was directly joined by free agents and left nothing behind. I think it is clear that since the Rockets can sign naked, there is definitely no need to give assets to their opponents in the same zone, the Lakers, not to mention that they will sign first and then change, and will trigger a hard hat, which will make trouble for their subsequent signings.

Go back to Whitmore and leave, it's not a bad thing.

Whitmore is the 20th pick in the first round of the 2023. He is 2.01 meters tall, wingspan is 2.04 meters, weighs 106 kg, and can also bounce more than 1 meter. His athletic ability and physical fitness are excellent. Before the draft, Whitmore's prediction ranking did not fall into the top ten and once made it to the top five. However, due to various reasons that year (Coulibaly jumped to the draft, many teams were in chaos, and there was rumors that Whitmore had knee problems before the draft), Whitmore was finally picked up by the Rockets at the 20th pick.

Rockets fans should not forget the joy of picking up Whitmore at that time. However, the reality is cruel, because the Rockets have to train too many players, and many of them are high picks, so there is not much room for Whitmore to grow.

Rockets in two years, Whitmore's data:

-23-24 season, 47 games, 2 starts, averaged 18.7 minutes per game, scored 12.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists, shooting percentage of 45.4%, three-point shooting percentage of 35.9%

-24-25 season, 51 games, 3 starts, averaged 16.2 minutes per game, scored 9.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists, shooting percentage of 44.4%, three-point shooting percentage of 35.5%

Among them, in this year's playoffs, in the first round of the Warriors, Whitmore only played 3 games in total, and played 5 minutes in total, shooting 0 of 2 shots, not a single point.

Of course, the Rockets did not give Whitmore too many opportunities, and even did not sell a first round in the end. It was not just because of the team's growth environment, but more because of Whitmore's own problems.

First of all, we need to be sure that Whitmore's dynamic talent is indeed explosive. Whether in the Development League or the NBA, we can have a stunning dunk from time to time, and can attack with the ball, which is a player who can get more points with enough time and ball rights. This can also be proved by the data. Whitmore only started 5 games in his career, averaging 20.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, shooting percentage of 54.1% and three-point shooting percentage of 46.9%.

The penultimate game against the Lakers at the end of the season. As the Rockets rested the main player, Whitmore started for 37 minutes, then made 12 of 19 shots, 7 of 12 of 3-pointers, and scored 34 points, 8 rebounds and 1 assist.

Being talented and able to attack is Whitmore's biggest advantage, but he has many shortcomings, and some of them are indeed worrying:

1. Not very good at passing the ball, 5 starters, and 11 assists were given in total, which shows this. It is obviously not enough for a player to only attack. An example is Thomas of the Nets, who can attack more than Whitmore, but now there are problems with renewal, and it is difficult to get satisfactory chips when changing;

2. Defensive Generally speaking, it’s not that Whitmore has a short wingspan and poor defensive talent. On the contrary, as a large forward, Whitmore’s defensive ceiling is worth looking forward to, but unfortunately he doesn’t read enough about defense, which is also the biggest reason why Whitmore cannot be reused under Uduka;

3. It has a bit of a thorny attribute. As for the NBA, Uduka had DNP Whitmore’s several games at the beginning of the season, but Whitmore threw a tantrum and directly shut down the Rockets’ official position. At that time, many fans speculated whether the Rockets wanted to trade him. There are not many talented and offensive players in this league, but not many can take into account both passing and defense.

In fact, in today's league, even if the ball is not good at attacking, players who can defend, shoot, run tactics and have strong functions are sometimes more popular than players who are physically strong and can only attack, not to mention that Whitmore also has some thorny attributes.

Despite some unpleasant things, the Rockets still gave Whitmore a favor. It is reported that the Rockets received a lot of offers, but eventually chose to trade with the Wizards because the Wizards provided Whitmore with more opportunities, and Washington, D.C. is very close to Whitmore's hometown.

For the Rockets, after this deal, they have freed up a place again, and there are two vacancies, one for mid-season reinforcement, and the other can continue to find goals in the free market. If they can get a replacement for Dillon, their strength will be further improved..

As for Whitmore, as we said, leaving is not a bad thing. The Wizards' growth environment is much better than the Rockets. Despite their shortcomings, he is only 20 years old now and has a chance to get better. I look forward to the White Magic next season's surprises.