The Miami Heat are in the midst of an excellent season, due not only to the blockbuster trade to acquire Jimmy Butler, but also sending center Hassan Whiteside to Portland.
According to Tom Haberstroh of NBC Sports, the locker room is now night and day since trading Whiteside to the Portland Trail Blazers and allowing a young Bam Adebayo to flourish under a more modern offense.
“No one’s prouder of this development and the changes in Miami this year than Heat coach Erik Spoelstra,” wrote Haberstroh. “The man who popularized the term “positionless basketball” is seeing his versatile dream come to life. His power forward, Leonard, is shooting 50 percent from downtown. His center, Adebayo, is second on the team in assists. If Adebayo added a 3-point shot, he’d be the basketball antithesis of Whiteside, whose tunnel vision and me-first mentality weighed heavily on the locker room.”
Whiteside signed his current four-year, $98 million contract in 2016 after leading the league with 3.7 blocks per game the season prior (2015-16). Now in the fourth and final year of his deal, he is just putting up 2.4 blocks per game — the highest mark since his big payday.
Spoelstra sat Whiteside in several fourth quarters, favoring a younger Adebayo and Kelly Olynyk, which ultimately left the Heat no choice but to trade him.
Despite averaging 15.4 points and 12.5 rebounds this season, he could be traded yet again as Jusuf Nurkic is slated to return around the All-Star break.
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