Is Hassan Whiteside worth the max?

The Miami Heat may be hesitant to give Hassan Whiteside a max deal, but is he worth it?

Lot’s of things are uncertain days before the start of free agency. But one thing is not. It’s going to take a max contract for the Miami Heat to retain Hassan Whiteside.

Whiteside has made it clear that loyalty won’t be a major factor in his decision. Instead, he’s taking a “business” approach to free agency. Let me translate. Whiteside won’t take a discount to play with the Heat.

In business, the market sets the price. With several teams preparing to offer Whiteside a max contract, his current market value is $22.2 million.

The Heat have to decide if they are willing to pay Whiteside’s price. Some within the Heat organization don’t think Whiteside is worth a max contract.

Here’s why. Some believe Whiteside is an overrated defender. Whiteside finished third in defensive player of the year voting and is a shot blocking phenom. However, the playoffs exposed Whiteside’s defensive liabilities.

Whiteside is a poor pick and roll defender. Some elite bigmen are fast enough to switch pick and rolls and cover smaller, faster players for short periods. We saw Tristan Thompson do this in the finals. Whiteside is too slow for this strategy.

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Whiteside also has a hard time showing on the pick and roll before recovering to his man in the paint. As a result, Whiteside prefers to hang back, which allows the opposing ball handler in the pick and roll an open mid-range jump shot.

Pick and roll defense is an underrated aspect of Chris Bosh’s game, and one reason why the Heat’s defensive numbers didn’t suffer when Whiteside was off the floor.

Whiteside is also a poor post up defender. Whiteside struggles against stronger players with solid post up games (for example, Al Jefferson and even Jonas Valanciunas).

Finally, Whiteside chases blocks at the expense of winning plays. The key statistic to note here is that the Heat were a better defensive rebounding team with Whiteside off the floor. The reason is simple. Whiteside often failed to box out his man, instead opting to go after blocks.

On the offensive end, ironically, Whiteside may be underrated. He is an excellent pick and roll finisher and offensive rebounder. His free throw shooting prevents hack-a-Whiteside. With a little work on his mid-range jumper, Whiteside could average 20 points per game.

Whiteside’s biggest flaw on offense is his passing. You know it’s bad when the coach calls a timeout to give a high five to Whiteside for passing out of the post.

Apart from dunks, when Whiteside gets the ball away from the rim, he often forces bad shots. Whiteside averaged 0.4 assists per game last season. In contrast, Hawks center Al Horford averaged 3.2 assists per game.

Unfortunately for the Heat, alternatives to Whiteside aren’t any cheaper. Al Horford is mentioned as a potential backup plan. However, he will command a salary between $20-$26 million per year. Bismack Biyombo has been mentioned and he is expected to get at least $16 million per year.

The only good news for the Heat is they can offer Whiteside 7.5% annual raises, while competitors can only offer 4.5%. This means an offer from the Heat starting at $21.3 is equivalent in lifetime value to an offer starting at $22.2 million from another team.

In the final analysis, the Heat should do what it takes to retain Whiteside. For the next four years, Whiteside is in his prime and should continue to produce at a high level. In addition, there is too much uncertainty surrounding Chris Bosh. Finally, Whiteside helps make the Heat a more attractive free agent destination, which will be important in 2017.

Although the price tag is steep, the Heat should retain Hassan Whiteside. He offers the best value of any free agent big available.