Miami Heat: How will Hassan Whiteside’s offseason impact the future?

Hassan Whiteside had a 2018-19 season full of challenges on the floor and off in the form of injuries. His summer activities and decisions could be pivotal, both for himself and the Miami Heat.

Hassan Whiteside didn’t have the easiest of seasons with the Miami Heat. He missed 10 games due to injury, most of which came in two separate stints, and in his second spell off the floor he lost his starting job to Bam Adebayo on a permanent basis.

The lineup change seemed to be an effective one on the part of coach Erik Spoelstra. Whiteside’s efficiency bumped up slightly across the board, and both the starting lineup with Adebayo and the bench with Whiteside became more effective.

When he was in the starting lineup, Whiteside had a net rating of -.5, but when he was moved to the bench it jumped to +4.3. Conversely, when Adebayo was coming off the bench the Heat had a -3.1 net rating, and a +5.9 net rating when he started. All in all, it was a successful switch.

Whiteside was nothing but professional about the change, even declaring that he enjoyed coming off the bench and getting to play more with Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic.

He never complained about being a reserve, but Spoelstra threw him a couple of curve balls late in the season when he was held to just five minutes twice, once on March 18th in a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, and again just three games later in a five-point win over the Washington Wizards on March 23rd.

Spoelstra never spoke to the media about why he cut Whiteside’s minutes so drastically and randomly, but it may have been a masterful case of manipulation if the Miami Heat organization has hopes that he’ll opt out of his $27 million player option this summer. It’s something he has stated he may consider.

On the other hand, if Whiteside was to opt out, it’s not like the Heat would actually have any cap space (unless they moved Ryan Anderson‘s expiring contract into another team’s cap space, which is unlikely, AND Goran Dragic opted out) with which to make a free agency splash, and the organization could find itself better off with one final year of Whiteside being perhaps the best backup center in the NBA.

For that matter, Whiteside may take up the challenge of winning back his starting job from Adebayo, and that’s a competition that would be a tremendous thing for the Miami Heat. A newly-focused and motivated Whiteside could be a terror against opposing big men, and it could push the young Adebayo to maximize his own abilities as well.

This is a situation in which any outcome is good  for the Heat. If he opts out, it would allow the Heat some flexibility with which to get creative. If he opts in, they have a motivated and incentivized Hassan Whiteside, playing for what he hopes is his next big pay-day in a contract year.

Either way, it’s a very good thing for the Miami Heat.