When the Washington Wizards acquired forward Cam Whitmore from the Houston Rockets in July 2025, it looked like a high-upside development for both him and his new team. The Wizards dealt just two second-round picks for the former Villanova Wildcat, who the Rockets selected No. 20 overall in 2023.
However, Whitmore played just 21 games last season before missing the rest of the campaign due to deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in his right shoulder. Meanwhile, fellow wings Kyshawn George, Bilal Coulibaly, Justin Champagnie and Will Riley all made strides before the Wizards drafted star BYU forward AJ Dybantsa No. 1 overall in June.
That left Whitmore at the bottom of the pecking order ahead of training camp, but he didn't make it that far. Washington traded the 22-year-old to the Cleveland Cavaliers for guard Tre Mann, a 2027 second-round pick, and cash on Wednesday, per ESPN.
Mann is a better fit for the Wizards at this point, as they need more help at guard than forward. They don't have a clear backup point guard for Trae Young, so Mann, Riley and Bub Carrington will all compete for that role.
Mann is also more experienced than Whitmore, as he's averaging 8.5 points per game on 40.2% shooting (34.5% 3-point) with 2.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists over 19.3 minutes since 2021. However, the latter player is an explosive slasher, which he displayed in spurts last season.
Highlights of newest Cavalier Cam Whitmore ❤️💛 @_camwhitmore_ pic.twitter.com/tL29peOdXP
— Cavs Muse 🪐 💖 (@CavsMuse26) August 20, 2026
If Whitmore had stayed healthy and grown into a consistent spark plug off the bench last season, he could've became a core piece in Washington. Unfortunately for the Maryland native, who grew up less than an hour from the Wizards' Capital One Arena, his stroke of bad luck ended his homecoming story early.
On the bright side for Washington, it didn't lose any key assets in the process, and it has more than enough wing talent to make up for Whitmore's departure.
Julian Reese had similarly short homecoming to Cam Whitmore
Washington acquired another Maryland native when it signed forward Julian Reese to a two-year two-way deal on Feb. 28. The 23-year-old grew up in Baltimore with his sister, WNBA star Angel Reese. He also went to the University of Maryland.
Reese made his NBA debut on March 2 and finished the season averaging 11.8 points on 52.9% shooting with 10.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.4 steals over 30.9 minutes (13 games). The 6-foot-9, 252-pounder notched 18 points and 20 rebounds in a 122-112 loss to the Utah Jazz on March 5 as well as a 26-point, 17-rebound outing in a 133-110 win over the Jazz on March 25.
Unfortunately for Reese, he's now out of a job. The Wizards sent him to the Denver Nuggets in the five-team deal that landed them Mann, and the latter team subsequently waived him, per NBC Sports.
Although Reese put up numbers during his brief tenure in the nation's capital, he only got significant run because Washington was tanking. It went 1-12 with him in the rotation, and he didn't stand out enough during this past Summer League to keep him around.
Reese and Whitmore's exits underscore a new era for the Wizards. Rather than homecoming subplots, they're focused on winning after going 50-196 over the last three seasons. That run of futility helped them assemble a young core headlined by wing AJ Dybantsa and big man Alex Sarr, and now it's time for talent to translate into victories.
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