Miami Heat: Hassan Whiteside traded to Portland for multiple pieces

The Miami Heat have traded Hassan Whiteside to the Portland Trailblazers. Here are the immediate outlooks from both sides of the trade.

A few weeks back, we theorized that Hassan Whiteside may eventually get what he wanted, as he reportedly wanted to be traded away from the Miami Heat. While his antennas seemed to be pointed in the direction of his hometown Charlotte Hornets, that wasn’t where he ended up landing.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, as if we expected anything other than a Wojbomb, the Miami Heat will ship Whiteside to the Portland Trailblazers for a combination of Meyers Leonard and Maurice Harkless. With Jusuf Nurkic on the shelf until he can make it back from that gruesome leg injury and with Enes Kanter being a free agent, the Blazers were in need of another big that was used to playing hefty minutes.

Hassan Whiteside should also be something that they haven’t had in recent years with the Trailblazers. While Nurk and Kanter are both capable big men, neither has the defensive acumen of a focused Hassan Whiteside. That was just the issue in Miami though and that isn’t to say that he wasn’t focused at all, but for much of the time over the past season or so, Whiteside just didn’t seem as focused as he had been or could be.

A change of scenery can often times do wonders for a player. With him being on the last year of his deal and with Al Horford and Nik Vucevic signing $100 million dollar deals, not to include the 50 million dollars that Brook Lopez got, Whiteside should be as focused for the Blazers as he ever was for the Heat over the past season or so.

This wasn’t exactly a dump for the Miami Heat either, as they got back two very useful pieces in Harkless and Leonard. They are both very capable players, who could excel at filling certain roles or even emerge as potential spot starters in the Miami Heat system.

Harkless will be playing this upcoming season on the last year of a four year deal he signed with the Blazers that started in the 2016-17 season. Across 60 games for the Blazers last season, he averaged 7.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.1 steals per game, which is important because he is more valuable for his defense and versatility than any individual or particular offensive skillset or trait.

Although a slightly less fluid or electric athlete, he is comparable to Josh Richardson as a wing defender capable of switching along the perimeter, while even offering a little help down low. If he isn’t moved as apart of another deal this offseason, he will help to offset if not totally compensate for the potential loss of Richardson to the Philadelphia 76’ers, providing the Jimmy Butler sign and trade deal continues as planned.

As for Meyers Leonard, he is a legit 7 footer that also has legit three point range and spacing ability. Although you would like him to play a bit more physically, he did shoot 45 percent from deep last season and 42.3 percent in the season prior, which means his stroke is really legit.

He also showed his potential this past season during the playoffs for the Blazers. Against the Warriors in this past season’s NBA playoffs, Leonard went for 16 points, three rebounds, and four assists in game three, while tossing in 30 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal in the closeout game, although they wound up getting swept by the Warriors.

Again and although you would love to see more physicality in Leonard’s game, there is room for a guy his size with his skill set and the ability to do what he does for a team. Leonard will also be on the last season of a four-year deal he signed with the Blazers that started in the 16-17 season, so at worst, they are two expiring deals for the Miami Heat to work with.

This trade seemingly worked out for both sides. Hassan Whiteside got what he wanted, as he reportedly asked for a trade upon opting into his deal, even though some reports say he didn’t ask. The Miami Heat got two expiring deals that could also turn into key rotation pieces for at least this season, because they bring very specific and useful skills with them.

The trade was indeed a win/win for both sides. The question still remains though, are the Heat finished shaking things up? We can only wait and see, no matter how anxiety-inducing this process may be.