NBA Rumors 2016: Heat's Big Man Hassan Whiteside to be Offered Less than Max Contract; Celtics Interested in Thunder's Serge Ibaka
The Los Angeles Lakers have expressed their intent to acquire the 26-year-old big man but the Miami Heat are trying to convince him not to sign the max contract.
Miami Heat big man Hassan Whiteside is part of the long list of players entering free agency by July 1 of this year, and a number of teams have already shown interest.
Most recently, the Los Angeles Lakers have expressed their intent to acquire the 26-year-old big man. However, his current team the Miami Heat are trying to convince him not to sign the max contract and remain with the team.
According to a column of Barry Jackson for the Miami Herald, the Miami team management will be looking to evaluate how much they would be offering Whiteside within the next month and a half.
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Jackson's article pointed out that one of the reasons for Whiteside's deal is to give way to sign Oklahoma Thunder superstar forward Kevin Durant, who also enters free agency this year. Durant is said to be Miami's "No.1 priority in free agency."
The report adds that putting up a deal which is close to the max contract would be more beneficial for Whiteside over the next four years, as opposed to the max deal.
According to salary cap expert Larry Coon, the Heat have the option to offer an annual 7.5 percent raises over his first-year salary. Other teams would only be able to offer 4.5 percent.
For the entire regular season, Whiteside played a total of 73 games, averaging 14.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and 3.7 blocks. In the playoffs, he averaged 12.0 points and 10.9 rebounds in 10 games.
Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics are looking to sign forward Serge Ibaka. In a report by Evan Massey for Inquisitr, signing Ibaka would be beneficial for the Celtics as he could be a strong and effective presence in the paint, something that the Green and White team have lacked for the past years.
In the regular season, Ibaka played a total of 78 games, averaging 12.6 points and 6.8 rebounds through 32.1 minutes of playing time per game.
