Should the Miami Heat trade Hassan Whiteside to the Boston Celtics?

A trade between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics for Hassan Whiteside makes a lot of sense for both sides.

On his podcast, ESPN’s Zach Lowe recently suggested that every player on the Miami Heat roster is available for trade, even Hassan Whiteside. As Matt Moore of CBS writes, a trade with Boston “is particularly interesting given that [Whiteside] solves [their] rim protection issues.”

In addition to lack of rim protection, the Celtics are the second worst rebounding team in the NBA. In fact, coach Brad Stevens won’t deny the Celtics need a personnel upgrade to solve their rebounding challenges.

Read More: Lowe says no one on the Heat is untouchable

Whiteside is the league’s best rebounder and one of the best rim protectors. He is also a devastating pick and roll finisher. Acquiring Whiteside would make the Celtics a legitimate threat to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference.

Over the years, Celtics GM Danny Ainge has carefully hoarded assets. Now might be the time to use them. If Ainge believes Whiteside is the missing piece to building a contender, he may be willing to give up a lot to get Whiteside. As Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders noted, it’d take a lot to pry Whiteside from the Heat.

Here’s a monster deal that could entice Riley.

Why this works for Boston:

This seems like a lot to give up buts it’s really not.

Of the picks, only the Nets pick will be in the top five. The other picks will end up being somewhere between 16-30.  Picks that late typically end up being fringe roster players.

Looking at the personnel involved, the Celtics don’t lose much. With Whitesode on the roster both Amir Johnson and Tyler Zeller become superfluous. Heck, even without Whiteside on the roster Zeller hasn’t been part of the Celtics rotation.

Finally, the Celtics retain the 2018 Brooklyn pick which will likely be in the top five, so not only do the Celtics win today, they are also setup to win tomorrow.

Why this works for Miami:

If Miami trades Whiteside, it’s to do a complete rebuild. A bevy of picks allows Riley to do just that.

With a loaded 2017 class, getting two top five picks is a quick way to jump start the process. The 2017 and 2019 picks help put a supporting cast around two potential stars.

In the meantime, Riley can start Zeller and Johnson at center and power forward respectively. Additionally, both contracts can come off the books after this season (Johnson’s deal expires while Zeller’s contract is non-guaranteed for next season), giving Riley cap space to offer two max contracts this summer.

This is just an idea, but it’s the sort of deal that Riley may be looking for and what it would take to acquire Whiteside from Miami.