Miami Heat President Pat Riley: Re-Signing Hassan Whiteside is ‘No. 1 priority’

The Miami Heat’s free agent center is due for a big contract this summer.

The Miami Heat face some difficult decisions this summer, with seven players coming off the books, most of the team enters free agency under uncertain terms. Among those players is Hassan Whiteside, the upstart center who took the league by storm over the last season and a half. The 7-footer is up for a big deal–likely a max contract–and the Heat don’t hold his Bird Rights, forcing them to dip into their cap to re-sign him.

All season, during which Whiteside played for less than a million dollars, there were questions as to how much the Heat would be willing to spend to bring Whiteside back. Team President Pat Riley addressed that during his end-of-season press conference Wednesday, leaving little doubt as to what his priority this summer will be.

“He’s obviously, I think, our No. 1 priority, period,” Riley said. “You don’t have to look further than that. While there might be players out there in free agency, our No. 1 priority is Hassan Whiteside.”

“He’s 26 years old, he’s a game changer, I don’t think he’s even reached his real ceiling in a couple areas of the game that I think that now he’ll be more comfortable with once this situation ends.”

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Making matters more complicated is the impending free agency decision of Thunder star Kevin Durant. It’s been reported that the Heat will seek out Durant, and try to lure him to Miami just as they did with LeBron James in 2010. He’s certainly one of the other “players out there” that Riley is alluding to.

Does this mean the Heat are out on the potential Durant sweepstakes? I wouldn’t go so far. Even with just six players currently under contract for the 2016-17 season, the Heat will have just about $42 million to spend before re-signing Whiteside and Dwyane Wade. That doesn’t leave much room to fill out its roster, let alone making a play for Durant.

It’s been believed that the Heat would have to decide between Whiteside or chasing Durant. Meanwhile, Chasing Durant and treating Whiteside like the second choice risks insulting the braggadocios center and watching him sign elsewhere. Riley coming out in support of Whiteside seems like a calculated move aimed to quell the nerves of the 26-year-old center.

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I’m not saying he’s lying. After all, Riley has a known affinity for big men and maybe he sees Whiteside at 26 and just one full year in the NBA with more upside at a more valuable position than the 27-year-old Durant. But it’s been expected that if Durant chooses to take meetings this summer, that Riley will be one of those meetings, and I don’t see that changing.