Hassan Whiteside Staying In Miami

On the first day of free agency, there are a lot of players to watch for in the market. One player that was getting a lot of attention is center Hassan Whiteside. 

Despite having a lot of interest from other teams, it looks like Whiteside is staying put in Miami. According to reports, the Miami Heat and Whiteside have reached a new deal to lock Whiteside up long term.

The deal is for 4 years, worth $98 million. Whiteside announced his decision to stay in Miami via Snapchat.

In 78 games this previous season, Whiteside averaged 14.2 points per game, 11.8 rebounds per game, and 3.7 blocks per game. In the best season of his NBA career, Whiteside played a huge role in helping the team make the playoffs in 2015.

Whiteside is a great center, can rebound, and he uses his size to his advantage when he is going for a rebound or a block. 

There were a lot of rumors going around that Whiteside was going to another team like the Dallas Mavericks, so Miami must be pleased that he picked to resign with the team. 

The money is a lot for a center, but as long as Whiteside can continue being a dominating center and produce the same numbers that he has been producing the past two seasons, the money will be well worth it. 

Currently at the age of 27, he still has time to improve his game, so Whiteside could still grow to become an even better center than he is right now.

On Whiteside’s side of things, he is getting paid the type of money that he was hoping to get in free agency this offseason. 

Now that he got the money that has been asking for, the next thing for Whiteside to do is prove that is worth the money that the team is investing in him. With the potential that Whiteside has shown the last two seasons, he will have no problem showing that he is worth it.

This is a great deal for both sides, Miami is locking up their franchise center of the future long term, and Whiteside is getting the money that he has been asking for. 

Whiteside has really come a long way in this league, and it’s hard to think that before the 14-15 season, he was playing in the NBA Developmental League.

Now that Whiteside is signed, the next step for Miami Heat in free agency should be bringing back free agent veteran Dwayne Wade back to Miami. 

Wade has played his whole career in Miami, so it will not be hard to convince him to come back. The problem with Wade being a free agent is that there are going to a lot of other teams that will want to sign him. 

With the contract the team just gave to Whiteside, Wade will most likely have to take a pay cut to come back to Miami, rather than taking more money from other teams in free agency.