The Portland Trail Blazers traded for Hassan Whiteside this summer because they will be without starting center Jusuf Nurkic to begin the season.
Whiteside is looking forward to the opportunity of a new beginning in Portland after his tenure with the Miami Heat ended sourly. A Blazers executive believes Whiteside will be an excellent fit in Portland's system. The exec also talked about how the Blazers will work around Nurkic being out.
“We have a lot of depth now,” the exec told Keith Smith of Real GM. “We think Hassan Whiteside will be an excellent fit in our system and will give us a lot of what we lose while Nurk is out. In addition, we have Zach (Collins) and we added Anthony Tolliver. Those two guys can also play some center for us too and will give us different looks. We’ve got enough to get by.”
This past season, Hassan Whiteside put up 12.3 points and 11.3 rebounds while shooting 57.1 percent from the field with the Heat. He recorded 36 double-doubles, but was a negative on the defensive end of the floor.
Whiteside has one-year left on his deal. He’ll make $27 million next season. The big man won’t be getting double-teamed in Portland since Blazers guards Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum are steady 3-point shooters.
If Whiteside can score efficiently and rebound for the Blazers, this could be a good move for Portland even though Whiteside is very mercurial, both on and off the court.
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