The Heat are unlikely to offer center Hassan Whiteside a full max deal when he hits free agency this summer, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. Responding to a reader’s question about Whiteside’s struggles when matched up against legitimate centers, Winderman says he believes the Heat have a figure in mind that they that they will not exceed to keep Whiteside in Miami. If the 26-year-old gets a better offer from someone else, he will likely move on. Whiteside is currently earning a little more than $981K in the final year of his deal with the Heat.
There’s more from South Beach:
- Miami may have thought twice about last season’s Goran Dragic trade if the front office had foreseen his current level of production, Winderman writes in the same piece. Dragic is averaging 12.3 points and 5.0 assists through 36 games while forming an uneasy backcourt partnership with Dwyane Wade. The columnist says no one from the Heat will admit it, but there has to be some disappointment with Dragic considering the team surrendered possibly two lottery picks to acquire him and then gave him a near-maximum contract. Winderman also wonders whether Dragic’s talents will ever be fully maximized in Miami’s current system.
- Despite playing just 33 minutes this season, veteran center Chris Andersen has not asked for a trade, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Andersen has talked to coach Erik Spoelstra several times about his place on the team and said “we’re both understanding of what my role is … I will embrace it … I am a highly competitive warrior.” Jackson says the Heat would like to move Andersen’s $5MM contract to provide luxury tax relief, but have been unable to find another team interested in a deal.
- Chris Bosh is proving to be worthy of his maximum contract, but the Heat are wasting one of the best stretches of his six years in Miami, according to Ethan J. Skolnick of The Miami Herald. Over the past 12 games, Bosh has averaged 23.8 points and 7.2 rebounds while shooting 51% from the floor and 44.1% from 3-point range. Despite his production, Miami posted just a 7-5 record in those games.
As I’ve been saying, the fact that Dragic has looked as bad as he has defensively, and all around in this first year of the contract is not what the Heat expected. Offensively, I still think he should be fine, though he isnt finishing at the same level as he did last year. I said at the time of the contract that I wasnt fond of that 5th season. I think the Heat felt the same way. Its a good thing they were able to get Dragic to take closer to his actual value, rather than max money. Still, I think had they thought this would be what would happen in Year 1, they would have used the money on a wing player