The Miami Heat plucked Hassan Whiteside from obscurity some time ago, before turning him into a player worth $100 million. Here’s what he’s saying now.
The Miami Heat are renown for their abilities to get the most out of players. This includes not only their ability to help a player be their best selves at any point in their career, but it also has a ton to do with their ability to be able to take another man’s trash and turn it into treasure.
Look no further than at the current roster, where you see names like Kendrick Nunn or Derrick Jones Jr. Jones Jr. was in the Phoenix Suns’ organization before being scooped up by Miami. He is now one of the most exciting players in the NBA to watch perform and a valuable member of the Miami Heat’s rotation.
Kendrick Nunn is arguably the best first-year guy in the NBA right now, although he has slumped a bit over his past few games. The Golden State Warriors would probably love to have a do-over there. This is especially considering some of the things they’ve endured early on in this 2019-20 season.
Hassan Whiteside, or “he who is not to be named” as we’ve grown accustomed to referring to him as was another one of those guys. He was, self admittedly, just playing ball in local YMCA gyms before the Miami Heat valued his talent and gave him another shot. Although it started out glorious, it didn’t end that way between the parties.
After a tumultuous few years filled with awkward appearances and sly comments to the media, Hassan Whiteside was dealt to Portland this past summer. Former Sun-Sentinel and current writer for The Athletic(subscription required), Shandel Richardson, caught up with Hassan Whiteside recently and asked him about his feelings on the scenario that saw him end up in Portland. Here is what he had to say.
"“I feel like everything I say nowadays is kind of twisted and it’s like, ‘He’s saying this about the Heat.’ No, I’m not. I don’t have anything to say about them. It was great. Miami is a great place to live. I still got my house there. Coach (Erik Spoelstra), Pat, we’re good. I chose them over several other teams before I signed a new contract. It was just a learning experience. We didn’t get what we wanted out of it. We didn’t get the championship. We didn’t get the Finals. I mean, s–t happens.”"
Curious quotes, curious quotes indeed. He seems to be under the impression that he left on good terms.
Perhaps he did, we weren’t privy to the inner workings of that deal, those conversations, or the parameters of that particular transaction. What I can say is that from the outside looking in, things didn’t appear to be the way he seems to believe they are.
Regardless, he seems to be thriving in his new home and that is great for him, we couldn’t be happier. We appreciate what he did here, while also appreciating that he made a way for us to land Meyers Leonard as a bonus part of that deal.
Whiteside is currently averaging 14.3 points, 12 rebounds, 0.7 assists, and 0.5 blocks across 25.8 minutes played per game. Looks to me like this was a win-win for all parties involved.