Hassan Whiteside headed into the offseason last night with one last jab at Heat coach Erik Spoelstra over playing time, relays Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Whiteside spent just 10 minutes on the court during the season-ending loss and played 77 total minutes in the five-game series.
“At least give me a chance to fight,” Whiteside said. “I can understand if I was playing 30 minutes and I played bad. At least give me a chance. … We played a style of play Coach wanted. He wanted to utilize more spacing I guess in the playoffs, so that’s why he did it.”
Foul trouble played a role in Whiteside’s lack of minutes, Jackson notes, as did matchup concerns with Philadelphia’s smaller lineups, but there’s an apparent feeling from the coaching staff that the Heat are better without Whiteside on the floor. His playing time dropped sharply during the season, going to 25.3 minutes per game after a career high of 32.6 last year.
The 28-year-old center said he will address the matter this summer with Spoelstra and team president Pat Riley. He is under contract for more than $25.4MM next season with a $27.1MM player option for 2019/20, and Jackson states that the Heat are expected to explore trade options.
There’s more from Miami on the first day of the offseason:
- The Heat are stuck with a roster talented enough to make the playoffs, but not to be a legitimate contender once they get there, Jackson writes in a separate piece. He recommends significant changes, which will have to come through trades because of the team’s cap situation. He says the Heat would prefer to keep Josh Richardson, Goran Dragic, Bam Adebayo and Kelly Olynyk, but adds that Riley should give the Spurs their choice of any two players on the roster if Kawhi Leonard becomes available.
- Dwyane Wade is in no rush to make a decision about another NBA season, according to Andre C. Fernandez of The Miami Herald. The 36-year-old played well after returning to Miami in February, including a 28-point performance in Game 2 of the playoff series. “Fresh off the NBA season, my 15th year, I’ll sit back and think about that,” Wade said after Tuesday’s loss. “Then, I’ll dive and throw myself into my family. They’re next on my bucket list of making sure I’m there for them. Then when it comes to the basketball side of it, which is a long time away from now, then I’ll think about that. But right now I ain’t concerned with it.”
- Wayne Ellington hopes to return to Miami, but financial realities could make that difficult, notes Manny Navarro of The Miami Herald. The Heat own Early Bird Rights on Ellington as he heads into free agency, allowing them to offer a four-year contract starting at $10.9MM with raises up to 8%. However, Miami is roughly $15MM over next year’s cap, so some salary may have to be trimmed before it makes that kind of commitment to Ellington.
Winslow should be absolutely untouchable, dude can play the 2-3-4 and space the floor. He just needs to get a featured role period, I don’t know what’s stopping Spoelstra. Nothing against James Johnson but come on seriously Winslow is a beast.
Except for the fact that he can’t shoot consistently, make free throws, or hit 3s…but yea, he is a beast that can space the floor hahahahaha. He reminds me a lot of MKG. One can hope that his shot develops. He had a nice series for sure but I can’t blame the heat for not wanting to feature him
MKG? Winslow is only 21 dude, watch what he does next season.
MKG was 21 not all that long ago with similar expectations
Kawhi and Derrick White for Dragic, Richardson, and Bam
Not a bad proposal I just don’t see Bam going anywhere.
Horrible for the spurs.
How? They answer there question at point guard with Dragic, get a scoring forward in Richardson, and get a good, young center. Dragic makes Parker expandable and Murray come off the bench, and Bam should replace Gasol within the next year or two.
Winslow plays like PJ Tucker trying to do a Draymond Green impression. He’s 6’4″ (draftexpress) like PJ but isn’t as long as Green (6’5″ with a near 7′ wingspan). He’s going to have a similar career to PJ but with hard work could round out into a defensive-minded point forward with limited shooting ability. Coach Spo has shown a proclivity for employing the role of point forward since the LBJ talent-taking days.
Winslow is significantly improved offensively. His handle had improved before his injuries last year, and his jumpshot is much smoother, better, and more consistent. He needs to improve finishing at the rim, shooting off the dribble, and at the free throw line. I’m pretty interested to see what he looks like next year, with a fully healthy summer