How times have changed. Once a promising center piece of the Miami Heat's post-Dwyane Wade rebuild, Hassan Whiteside has quickly fallen out of favor, out of the core rotation, and is inevitably on his way out.
Many possible landing spots have been suggested for the 6-foot-11 big man, although there may be some difficulties making it work financially. Not only because of the nearly $52 million (and two years) left on the deal he signed during the summer of 2016, but getting a team to take it without any assets to sweeten the pot seeing as the Heat have no picks or expendable young pieces available.
That said, stranger things have happened in the NBA — untouchable players end up switching cities unexpectedly and those touted to be albatross contracts that no one would touch with a 10-foot pole are miraculously shed off their team's payroll.
One team that could probably use the throwback big man are the Washington Wizards. NBC Sports' Chase Hughes and Nick Ashooh deliberate the necessity and drawbacks of the trade in one of their analysis videos.
Both analysts conclude that while Whiteside is too similar to Gortat (guard John Wall and the Wizards are seeking athleticism and dynamic scoring off their frontcourt in keeping with the modern NBA center), he does provide the Wizards with elite shot blocking and rebounding, assuming he returns to form with his usual heavy minutes.
As for Miami, Gortat only has one year left in his deal, which would help the team clear up space and set themselves as major players during the 2019 free agent market. It is worth noting however, that Gortat is only owed $13 million which would make salary matching difficult and the trade partners will have to be creative mathematically to make it work.
Follow Us
Subscribe