Things have gone south in South Beach for Hassan Whiteside and the Miami Heat.
After a career year in 2016-17, Whiteside saw his minutes and numbers decrease across the board this season as he dealt with injuries and fell out of favor with a Heat team that is preferring smaller lineups.
He has oscillated between respecting the Heat’s decision to play him less and speaking out over the last few months, and once again he has shared his frustration after the Heat were eliminated on Tuesday.
Now it seems he is officially on the trading block.
#Heat expected to try to trade Hassan Whiteside, via @amathur90. #NBA https://t.co/LzFpVChSQ2 pic.twitter.com/HJJoWc0T9z
— Sam Amico (@AmicoHoops) April 25, 2018
Whiteside should be entering his prime at the age of 28, but his maturity issues and inability to play with full effort at all times make him a bit of a liability. Combine that with his inability to stretch the floor at all with his jump shot, almost a prerequisite even for big men these days, and you have a guy that is not worth what he is being paid.
The Heat will be hard pressed to find any takers for Whiteside and the final two years and $52.5 million of his deal. The final year is a $27.1 million player option.
My guess is that Whiteside starts next season as a member of the Miami Heat, nobody is even thinking about touching that contract until it is expiring if Whiteside opts into the final year in 2019-2020.
