Hassan Whiteside: Road To The Max

[QUIZ]

Bosh's contract has stuck us between a rock and a hard place. Even if he was healthy we haven't been able to use him and Hassan effectively together, that along with the fact that he's 32 doesn't fit with the direction that our team is headed.

His contract is a problem. His life isn't in danger and hasn't been in danger this season according to him.

I still believe that he's our best overall player when healthy but in terms of age, fit, and reliability he is a problem. Not gonna sugar coat it.

You can't invest $45mill plus in the same position.

[QUIZ]

Just to remind you guys....Chris Bosh is still on the roster. I believe he makes $23 million next season. So you guys want us to sign Hassan for near max money to come off the bench?

Hm. Something to think about...

It's a serious problem that most have avoided talking about because of the sensitive issue of CB's health. Going forward realistically only 1 of them would make sense. Investing $45mill+ in the same position is not how you win. Especially if both of the players aren't even in the top 20 arguably.

I don't know what the solution is. As things currently stand CB is unmovable and will remain unmovable until he proves his health.

My biggest issue is the fact that he's 32 turning 33 next season. He doesn't fit the direction that our team is headed. If healthy he could still be the starting center on any contender but on a young team, fighting for playoff positioning in the East? He's just not a good fit.

IDK what happens going forward. Bosh is a top 5 PF when healthy and Hassan is arguably a top 5 center. If the two can dominate and win us games together than this isn't a problem. If they can't though eventually we will have to chose and because CB is under contract that choice might already be made for us.

[gom]

Bosh's contract has stuck us between a rock and a hard place. Even if he was healthy we haven't been able to use him and Hassan effectively together, that along with the fact that he's 32 doesn't fit with the direction that our team is headed.

His contract is a problem. His life isn't in danger and hasn't been in danger this season according to him.

I still believe that he's our best overall player when healthy but in terms of age, fit, and reliability he is a problem. Not gonna sugar coat it.

You can't invest $45mill plus in the same position.

The narrative that Bosh & Whiteside can't play together is nonsense. Bosh, should he return, is a stretch 4 - not a 5 - and Hassan owns the center job. This is the same kind of discussion we had before about Hassan's +/- numbers. Any team would love to have a front court of Bosh & Whiteside.

Aside from that, we are unlikely to be able to keep Deng since (a) we'll have limited cap space (even with 92M) and (b) we don't have his bird rights. We also have a similar problem retaining Joe Johnson. He's not signing for veteran's minimum and we'll have to renounce our MLE and BAE to increase cap space to sign our free agents.

Dragic/Wade/Winslow/Bosh/Whiteside is our lineup going forward. This summer Bosh & Whiteside will need to figure out their spacing and Winslow will need to learn to shoot and score.

[QUIZ]

Bosh's contract has stuck us between a rock and a hard place. Even if he was healthy we haven't been able to use him and Hassan effectively together, that along with the fact that he's 32 doesn't fit with the direction that our team is headed.

His contract is a problem. His life isn't in danger and hasn't been in danger this season according to him.

I still believe that he's our best overall player when healthy but in terms of age, fit, and reliability he is a problem. Not gonna sugar coat it.

You can't invest $45mill plus in the same position.

The narrative that Bosh & Whiteside can't play together is nonsense. Bosh, should he return, is a stretch 4 - not a 5 - and Hassan owns the center job. This is the same kind of discussion we had before about Hassan's +/- numbers. Any team would love to have a front court of Bosh & Whiteside.

Aside from that, we are unlikely to be able to keep Deng since (a) we'll have limited cap space (even with 92M) and (b) we don't have his bird rights. We also have a similar problem retaining Joe Johnson. He's not signing for veteran's minimum and we'll have to renounce our MLE and BAE to increase cap space to sign our free agents.

Dragic/Wade/Winslow/Bosh/Whiteside is our lineup going forward. This summer Bosh & Whiteside will need to figure out their spacing and Winslow will need to learn to shoot and score.

Its more than just being able to play together. Can they win together? Because if we're investing half of our cap space in those two the answer to that question needs to be yes.

[gom]

Bosh's contract has stuck us between a rock and a hard place. Even if he was healthy we haven't been able to use him and Hassan effectively together, that along with the fact that he's 32 doesn't fit with the direction that our team is headed.

His contract is a problem. His life isn't in danger and hasn't been in danger this season according to him.

I still believe that he's our best overall player when healthy but in terms of age, fit, and reliability he is a problem. Not gonna sugar coat it.

You can't invest $45mill plus in the same position.

The narrative that Bosh & Whiteside can't play together is nonsense. Bosh, should he return, is a stretch 4 - not a 5 - and Hassan owns the center job. This is the same kind of discussion we had before about Hassan's +/- numbers. Any team would love to have a front court of Bosh & Whiteside.

Aside from that, we are unlikely to be able to keep Deng since (a) we'll have limited cap space (even with 92M) and (b) we don't have his bird rights. We also have a similar problem retaining Joe Johnson. He's not signing for veteran's minimum and we'll have to renounce our MLE and BAE to increase cap space to sign our free agents.

Dragic/Wade/Winslow/Bosh/Whiteside is our lineup going forward. This summer Bosh & Whiteside will need to figure out their spacing and Winslow will need to learn to shoot and score.

Its more than just being able to play together. Can they win together? Because if we're investing half of our cap space in those two the answer to that question needs to be yes.

Winning must be the focus of the entire team, not just the responsibility of two of the players. The same way there have been questions about Bosh & Whiteside together there have been dissertations about how Dragic & Wade don't work together. I honestly am focused now on this season, because next year's questions are impossible to answer without knowing Bosh's future with the team. The possibility that he can't play and we're without his salary cap space until after next season or if that we lose Whiteside for nothing are much worse than resolving synergy issues between players. I think the problems you raise are *pleasant* problems to have under the circumstances. I'd love to have those problems next season!

Right now, I just want to see Hassan bring down the house. Charlotte needs to FEEL us. We need to give them nightmares.

[Orin]

The narrative that Bosh & Whiteside can't play together is nonsense. Bosh, should he return, is a stretch 4 - not a 5 - and Hassan owns the center job. This is the same kind of discussion we had before about Hassan's +/- numbers. Any team would love to have a front court of Bosh & Whiteside.

I agree. Didn't Whiteside & Bosh started to play better and better together just before the ASB?

If Bosh was playing, we could have done this

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6XlFwmTMQw[/youtube]

[Mars]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/721743684962623488[/tweet]

[RexBoyWonder]

Bosh Next to Whiteside wasn't a great fit, but it wasn't bad either. There's untapped potential there, on paper it should work well enough, we have to work on it and see how well they can click.

It's way premature to declare they shouldn't be on the same team.

[perempe20]

it looks like Whiteside saved his best for the playoffs!

[QUIZ]

As expected he dominated. The spread out schedule will do him wonders.

[Bishop45]

Bosh Next to Whiteside wasn't a great fit, but it wasn't bad either. There's untapped potential there, on paper it should work well enough, we have to work on it and see how well they can click.

It's way premature to declare they shouldn't be on the same team.

Deng at the 3 was a factor in it all as well. I think it could work with the right 3 but it's probably easier just to bench one of them and make whatever we have work

Bosh is going to have to find a way to work more off the ball either way tho. Maybe JJ at the 3 would look better than what we had, we don't know now

[Durrrtysouth]

If and when Bosh comes back, his minutes are going to have to be limited anyways. No team is going to trade for him knowing this. A rotation of Bosh and Deng at the 4 can work. Don't tell me that Bosh can't adjust to the new style. He is a smart guy. That being said, if he is not able to come back, insurance will cover his salary and I am sure we will get an injury exception from the NBA to sign someone else. Bosh's situation should not be factored in when discussing re-signing a player in Whiteside that could end up owning many more Heat and hopefully NBA records in blocks and rebounds. I would go all in on Hassan.

[RexBoyWonder]

The situation basically flipped :

Bosh used to be lock in long term piece, And Hassan needed to show he belongs next to him.

Now Hassan is showing he should be regarded as the locked in long term Center, And everything with Bosh (health and fit) is up in the Air.

If he's not coming back, it opens up another max salary slot in 2017-2018. If he does come back, we'll try to make the rotation work and incorporate him in. It could work with some adjusting (Deng and SF position also impacted). If we can't make it work and he's healthy, He could be traded later down the line.

[Durrrtysouth]

I also think the most important time to figure out Bosh's situation is this off season. If there are any health concerns and he sits out next year, we need to request from the league the injury exception early enough in the FA season so that we are able to get a valuable player to sign here before everyone has signed somewhere else. I saw this happen when Amare was in PHX and he had to sit our 2 years because of micro fracture surgery. Insurance covers the salary if the player has been ruled out for the year, so the hit on the business side would not hurt us. We just need to be able to move quick to sign someone else. This is why Hassan needs to be signed right away, it send a clear message to the other FA's out there who want to win.

[HIF]

Give him the MAX!

[Heat_Fan_87]

what a delicate situation. regardless, expect whiteside to be on the books for 23.5mil next year unless he is willing to take some discount.

[heat4life]

So Kawhi Leonard just won DPoY with Draymond Green as the closest to challenge him. I can't complain since those two can guard multiple positions at a high level. Hassan finished third in voting and expect him to win this award next season. He needs to work on his post defense a little this summer.

[Mars]

HEAT's Hassan Whiteside named Third Place in Kia Defensive Player of the Year

Spurs' Kawhi Leonard, Warriors' Draymond Green, finish first and second, respectively, in voting

Official Release | NBA.com
April 18, 2016

NEW YORK — The Miami HEAT's Hassan Whiteside, who helped the team grab a 3-seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs this season, finished third in the 2015-16 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, the NBA announced today. Whiteside, a 7-foot center, who does it with blocks, tallied 83 points (two first-place votes).

Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

Link

[HIF]

Surely he's going to make an all NBA team at Center.

[TroubleS0me]

@ least he got third place this season. Wasnt expecting him to win but he deserve more 1st place votes. I said it all season long he lacks fundamentals on defense. Hes not always in the right place on defense, his post defense & P N R defense needs work.