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Fantasy Basketball: Hassan Whiteside Is Emerging Into Elite Big Man

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By @bradberreman24

Hassan Whiteside, Miami Heat, Fantasy Basketball

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Center Hassan Whiteside has been a find for the Miami Heat since the calendar turned to 2015, and fantasy basketball owners have reaped the benefits as well. After his 24-point, 20-rebound, two blocked shot performance against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night, Whiteside is averaging 14.1 points, 11.1 rebounds and 3.4 blocked shots per game over his last 14 games. He also went 12-for-13 from the floor against Minnesota, which pushed his field goal percentage to just over 66 percent over that same span.

Looking at the last six games, since he returned from a two-game absence with an ankle injury, Whiteside stands out even more.

Over that most recent stretch, including his effort Wednesday night, Whiteside is averaging 16.8 points, 15.3 rebounds and 3.8 blocks per game, with five double-doubles and at least nine rebounds in all six games. He has played more than 30 minutes in a game just twice over his last 14 games, but both occasions have come over the last six games and that should be a sign of more playing time to come.

Whiteside’s recent run of production could be written off as an aberration, or simply considered too small a sample size to be relevant. But I think the minimal sample size argument went out the window a few games ago, and fantasy owners have to take notice of a big man that shows any kind of consistency for more than a handful of games.

More 20-20 games like Wednesday night obviously should not be expected, and frankly it will be hard for Whiteside to sustain the kind of numbers he has put up lately over the rest of the season. Even if a drop in production does come, he can still be a notable producer in three categories (points, rebounds and blocked shots) and that is enough to keep him in the good graces of fantasy owners that have added him recently.

Whiteside’s production per-36 minutes this season entering Wednesday night is very good (17.9 points, 15.2 rebounds and 4.9 blocks), almost to the point of being unbelievable. But those numbers do point to his upside, and should still be noted if his playing time rises any going forward.

Brad Berreman is a Columnist/Senior Writer at Rant Sports.com. Connect with him on Twitter. 

 

 

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