Kim Klement- USA Today Sports
With the upcoming NBA Draft and sub sequential free agency period, the Miami Heat will have plenty of options to retool for the 2015-2016 regular season. The tenth overall pick should provide either a quality athletic prospect that will play steady minutes off of the bench, or become part of a package deal with another Heat player in return for a proven veteran.
One player that has begun to pop up in recent trade rumors is Hassan Whiteside. Whiteside was a runner-up for Most Improved Player this past season, averaging 11.8 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game, and the prospect of pairing him with the 10th overall pick could be enough to bring in a proven wing player, someone the Heat desperately need going into next season.
If the Heat choose this route, they would be making a huge mistake. It may seem that the team is stacked in the frontcourt with Chris Bosh, Josh McRoberts and Chris Andersen, but injuries and age have stripped this frontcourt of dependable play, and Whiteside was by far one of their best assets. No one on the Heat’s roster can put up the type of numbers Whiteside can on a consistent basis.
The upcoming draft could end up providing the Heat the exact type of wing player they covet to finally get this team back on the right track, so all of this could be in vain. Alas, the fact that rumors of Whiteside potentially being traded are even surfacing isn’t good, especially when the franchise has no control over Whiteside’s contract after this season, as he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
There will undoubtedly be plenty of teams looking to pay Whiteside top dollar next summer, which is something the Heat might not be able to counter. That is why showing Whiteside loyalty by not trading him could be the smartest move the Heat make all season.
Jared Doyle is a Miami Heat writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @outofboundsjay, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
