Miami Heat: Keeping Hassan Whiteside should be the priority

The Miami Heat should drop the “trade Whiteside” talk.

No one is off limits in Miami Heat trade talks.

News continues to emerge that suggests much of Miami’s roster is up for grabs should the right deal arise. Most recently, according to Amin Elhassan of ESPN, the trio of Hassan Whiteside, Tyler Johnson and Dion Waiters have been deemed detachable from Miami moving forward.

Two of those three trade candidates make sense. For Tyler Johnson, who was overpaid in the summer of 2016, his contributions have regularly been regarded as lacking and a trade could be a mutually beneficial parting.

And for Waiters, a swap could save Miami from the dangers of reintegrating him after a year-long absence due to injury.

Conversely, Johnson and Waiters could yield the Heat a positive return.

In Johnson’s case, his youth and potential upside could earn the Heat expiring contracts that would help free Miami from the salary cap’s maw in the seasons to come, while Waiters has a strong enough track record to garner a nice return package.

But Whiteside should absolutely be off the table. Although he’s coming off his worst season since joining the Heat in 2014-15, Whiteside is far from expendable.

Battle of the bigs

Thanks to the push for smaller, hot-swappable lineups in the NBA, centers are falling by the wayside. As the position distances itself from its 1980’s and 90’s iteration – when teams favored organizing their offenses around post ups from players reminiscent of David Robinson or Patrick Ewing – traditional post play today seems shocking.

Joel Embiid is regularly hailed for his inclusion of classic moves. His up-and-under is a thing of beauty and is nigh unstoppable when he gets the jump on defenders.

This offseason, Bam Adebayo joined the “Post Improvement” club, seeking help from NBA veteran Rasheed Wallace.

While players with post talent are revered because of their rarity, their abilities can be a nightmare for ill-prepared teams.

Hassan Whiteside fixes that problem.

In the Eastern Conference, the Heat will find themselves embroiled in contests against post threats. Embiid, Andre Drummond, Jonas Valanciunas and Dwight Howard are just a few who make their millions in the paint.

Though the Heat feature a talented defensive rotation, with even their smaller players helping on oversized opponents, Whiteside is the rim insurance Miami needs. Even struggling with injury, Whiteside’s 1.7 blocks per game was Miami’s best.

Seriously, no one came close.

Where’s the deal?

Even if the Miami Heat could find a way to move Whiteside, what would be a lucrative deal?

Set to earn $52 million over the next two seasons, teams will be hard pressed to find a reason to alleviate Miami’s tax concerns. Whiteside’s trade value is at an all-time low following a season of discontent.

This summer, Whiteside regularly confirmed he has made amends with Heat personnel, having lunch with head coach Erik Spoelstra and team president Pat Riley, while asserting both sides are good moving forward.

"“We had a great talk,” Whiteside told the Sun Sentinel. “I just think it’s trust on both sides. I think that’s the biggest thing … It was about a four-hour meeting. It was a lot about life. It was two hours basketball, two hours life. It was a good meeting.”"

Miami can attest to his attitude change and physical health, but the same can’t be said for the Association’s remaining 29 teams.

By mid-season, Whiteside’s stock could absolutely rise enough to earn another look. But as the 25^th highest paid player in the league, the incoming players from a deal likely won’t have an immediate impact on Miami moving forward.

Given Whiteside’s limited versatility, players in his similar paygrade are probably off-limits. Thus, unless the Heat orchestrate a grandiose, multi-team deal, return for Whiteside would involve a multi-player swap.

Any combination of players the Heat get in return, while hopefully alleviating their salary trouble, might not add to Miami’s competitive edge.

And that’s the exact opposite of what fans want.

Trading Whiteside might seem like the easiest solution for a Miami roster in limbo, but pulling the trigger too early could usher in a major setback.

Unless Miami sees the road to a title in these next two seasons, pushing for a Whiteside trade could do more harm than good.