NBA Rumors: Accepting a Bad Deal May Be the Only Way the Miami Heat Can Trade Hassan Whiteside
Whiteside is still owed a substantial amount of money over the next two seasons
The Miami Heat currently find themselves in quite a pickle.
Back in 2016, Whiteside had an opportunity to explore the free agent market, but after a bit of hobnobbing with other teams, he ultimately decided that he wanted to return to Miami, and the Heat franchise obliged him by giving him a four-year deal worth over $98 million, with the last year being a player option.
At the time, the move was seen as a good one for the Heat as they were able to hang on to a still young center who had already flashed tremendous ability on the court. Whiteside was viewed as someone who could be a defensive anchor for any team.
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Plus, the Heat needed all the talent they could get at the time, so bringing back Whiteside made plenty of sense for them.
Now, not even two years after signing Whiteside to a four-year deal, more members of the franchise's front office are reportedly starting to think that trading the center is something that needs to be done.
According to a recent report from the Miami Herald's Barry Jackson, there is now "strong support among numerous people inside the Heat" to move Whiteside.
There have been rumblings that the Heat may seriously consider trading Whiteside after he played poorly in the team's first-round playoff matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers, and apparently those have only gotten louder.
Still, even if more members of the Heat's front office are onboard with the idea of trading Whiteside, that doesn't necessarily mean that a deal will get done.
As Jackson noted in the article, the Heat would probably trade Whiteside right away if they can get a good rotation player in return for him, but there's also a real possibility that the best deals offered to them are ones where they are clearly getting the short end of the stick.
The Heat will have to figure out what they want to do in the likely event that they do indeed receive only bad offers for Whiteside.
Will they walk away from those offers or should they seriously think about accepting them if they can at least offer a bit of salary relief?
Given the decline in Whiteside's production from last season to this most recent one — as can be seen on his Basketball Reference page — the members of the Heat's front office should probably prepare to receive some real lowball offers.
Getting less than equal value in return for any player is obviously not a good way to run a franchise, but in this case, it may be a necessary thing for the Heat franchise to do.
If Whiteside simply no longer fits in their future, then the Heat may just have to accept a bad deal if it provides them with an opportunity to move on.
In the short-term, accepting a bad deal will hurt the Heat's chances of being competitive, but in the long run, they may be better off for making the move.
More news about the latest NBA trade rumors should be made available soon.
