2 for 1! The deal was reached! The Rockets finally gave up

According to shams, the Rockets and Wizards have just reached a deal.

Rockets sent out Whitmore and exchanged 2 second round picks from the Wizards (2026 from the Bulls and 2029 from the Kings). The Rockets have traded another one, and they have made a lot of moves this summer.

This year's Rockets look very ambitious. They made it into the playoffs this year and had a small achievement, which still gave the Rockets some desires, a desire that they had never had for many years.

As for the Wizards, we can only say that they have too many second round picks, so many that they have nowhere to spend. The Wizards will have a total of 17 second round picks in the next seven years, and there will be 8 in 2026 and 2027 (minus the 2 for the Rockets, and the remaining 6). Tell me, who will compete with the second round draft pick in the next two years? The Wizards have made many transactions over the years, but most of the ones they get are second-round picks. Among the bad teams, the Wizards have picked up the most junk. After struggling for a long time, the Rockets decided to give up Whitmore.

The Rockets have collected a lot of first-round picks and selected many first-round picks due to trading in recent years. In the past 4 years, the Rockets have selected a total of 7 players in the first round. It’s not a joke, it’s really a bit difficult to train. In recent years, the Rockets have really staged many "striving the throne" scenes. Jaylen Green is the future, and Shin Kyung is the future. This year it is Amen Thompson's turn. The battle between the boss is quite fierce, and the team seems a little confused. "The struggle between the prince has always been like this"!

So, transactions become inevitable. Just after giving away Jaylen Green, it was Whitmore's turn again. Now there are Shin Kyung, Jabbarry Smith, Amen Thompson, Ethan and Shepard. Is it becoming clear who is the boss?

Last season, Whitmore played 51 games, averaging only 16.2 minutes of playing time, and was able to score 9.4 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist. In the playoffs, Whitmore only got 3 chances, with 0 of 2 shots combined, without scoring. Many fans who like Whitmore think that the Rockets have too few opportunities, otherwise the White Devils should have performed better. So after the deal is concluded, fans who like Whitmore are very happy. At least in a "bad team" like the Wizards, Whitmore should have more opportunities. Some people say that the White Devils will average 30+ per game next season, is it true?

Whitmore was the No. 20 pick in 2023. According to the NBA labor and capital agreement, the first contract for the first round rookie is in a 2+2 model, with full guarantee in the first two years and the team option in the next two years. In the team options section, the team needs to determine whether to execute before November 1 of the previous year. On October 31, 2024, the Rockets implemented Whitmore's team options for the 2025-26 season and the 2026-27 season. After the transaction is reached, the Wizards need to decide whether to execute it before November 1, 2025. However, this kind of rookie who is traded in a rookie contract year always makes people feel that their future career will not be very smooth. Whitmore's annual salary in the next two years will be 3.5 million and 5.4 million respectively. The last year is quite expensive. Will the Wizards not fail to implement the White Devil's 2026-27 season options?

If the Wizards do not execute the contract of Bai Mo in November, the 2023rd competition between the 17th pick and 20th pick will become clearer. Thinking back then, because of the 17-20 pick, there were several teams with high traffic, including the Lakers, Heat, Warriors, and Rockets. Then they chose Schifino (Lakes), Jaime Hax (Heat), Pojemski (Warriors) and Whitmore (Rockets) in turn. Because the Lakers ranked the highest pick (17th pick), the candidates were the most average, and the Lakers were ridiculed a lot at that time. But now, everyone is actually quite a bit too much. Except for Podjemsky, they can still struggle, and the rest seem to be...