Miami Heat president Pat Riley didn’t mince words when delivering his annual exit interview to the press: He believes head coach Erik Spoelstra and Hassan Whiteside have some relationship-building to do.
From the Sun-Sentinel‘s Ira Winderman:
“By the time we got to the playoffs, I don’t think he was ready,” Riley said. “He wasn’t ready. He wasn’t in great shape. He wasn’t fully conditioned for a playoff battle mentally. He and we got our heads handed to us.
“The disconnect between he and Spo, that’s going to take a discussion between them and it’s going to take thought on the part of Coach and also Hassan. How will Hassan transform his thinking — 99 percent of it — to get the kind of improvement that Spo wants so he can be effective?
“How can Spo transform his thinking when it comes to offense and defense or minutes or whatever? However he uses him, that’s what you do. We go through this almost every year with players. There’s always a disagreement, a change in philosophy or whatever it is.”
Riley also said that Whiteside’s knee injury could have impacted his performances, and that he supported Spo’s decision not to play him. He even made it clear Whiteside probably isn’t going anywhere–which comes as no surprise, because he’s owed $52.5 million over the next two years, money most teams won’t take on without some sort of a sweetener.
Hence the importance of Whiteside and Spoelstra getting on the same page. The Heat have too much money tied up in him to let him stew on the bench, and Whiteside, for his part, clearly cannot handle anything less than a defined, if featured, role.
Where the Heat go from here will be fascinating. Assuming Whiteside doesn’t go anywhere, they still have to grapple with the fact their best lineups will probably include Kelly Olynyk or James Johnson at the center spot—unless Whiteside improves his defensive rotations and takes smarter shots at the offensive end.
