Houston Rockets Assign Prized Rookie Cam Whitmore To Rio Grande Valley Vipers For G League Assignment

The Houston Rockets announced on Tuesday that they are sending first round pick Cam Whitmore to the G League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers for the start of the G League season. The news came as a slight disappointment to observers, but not the least not at all a surprise given Ime Udoka’s plans for a Rockets team placing emphasis on the win column for the first time in four seasons. Even with a depleted bench, it was unlikely that Whitmore, the 20th pick in the 2023 NBA draft, would crack Houston’s rotation at the beginning of the 2023-2024 season. Once considered a possibility to be selected as high in the draft as #4 to Houston, Whitmore is considered a member of the franchise’s “Core 6” of young prospects upon which it hopes to build.

Whitmore signed a four-year, $15.595 million contract this summer. He will earn $3.2 million this season, in 2023-2024. His rookie scale contract runs through the 2026-2027 season with the Rockets possessing team options in successive seasons, in 2025-2026 and 2026-2027.