Life is not easy after leaving the Rockets! The White Devils playing time continues to decline: not even as good as during the hiatus

On November 9, Whitmore, known as the "White Devil", has seen a continuous decline in his playing time recently. For him, leaving the Rockets is not an easy life.

Previously, Whitmore joined the Wizards, and many people were optimistic that he would get a lot of playing time there and truly realize his talent. But at least judging from the data so far, this is not the case. In the Wizards' defeat to the Cavaliers, Whitmore only played 4 minutes and 56 seconds, and his playing time was concentrated in the first quarter. Wizards reporter Shankar said that Whitmore's playing time has continued to decline.

In the game against the Magic, Whittemore played 15 minutes and 37 seconds, scoring 8 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals; in the game against the Knicks, he played 11 minutes and 10 seconds, only scoring 2 points and 1 rebound; in the game against the Celtics, his playing time dropped again, with only 7 minutes and 57 seconds, and he scored 2 points, 1 steal and 1 block; in the game against the Cavaliers, he only played 4 minutes and 56 seconds in the first quarter without scoring.

Head coach Brian Keefe has said that Whittemore's reduced playing time is not due to performance issues. Keefe said: "He will continue to get opportunities to play, and he is doing a good job." But Watkins (20 minutes), Kispert (20 minutes), Champagne (19 minutes) and Riley (10 minutes), who were also substitute wings, all got more playing time than Whitmore in the game against the Cavaliers.

Keefe said after the game that he wanted to see how other players, especially Watkins, performed during the rotation.

This summer, the Wizards sent two second-round picks to acquire Whitmore from the Rockets. The small forward was selected with the 20th overall pick in the 2023 draft. The 21-year-old will be eligible for a rookie contract extension next offseason. Just to get a big contract, Whittemore is in a bad situation now and faces fierce competition. Data shows that Whitmore has only averaged 13.8 minutes per game so far this season. In the past two seasons with the Rockets, he averaged 18.7 minutes and 16.2 minutes per game respectively.