Suns Should Trade For Hassan Whiteside
Hassan Whiteside will be put on the trade market. The Phoenix Suns would be a great fit and should make a move to bring him in.
The Miami Heat are “expected to explore a Whiteside trade” this offseason per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. He took exception to how he was utilized by head coach Erik Spoelstra this season and in the playoffs and even ‘cryptically’ told reporters there are a lot of teams that can use a center. Hassan wants a chance. The Phoenix Suns, in desperate need of some rim protection, would be wise to at least kick the tires on a Hassan Whiteside deal.
Phoenix rolled out Tyson Chandler as their starting center for the majority of this season. Though he is a solid vet, any team would love to have he will be 36-years-old when next season starts. Alex Len was the other starting caliber center on this young team. He will be an unrestricted free agent this summer and not likely to return. Therefore, neither is a lock as a true solution for the position.
Phoenix Suns
The Suns have several ways to acquire that guy via the draft or free agency or trade. However, be it via trade, the team would not be able to find such a solid big at a bargain asking price. He’s scheduled to make $25.4 million next season and has a $27.1 million player option for 2019-20 so that isn’t a bargain in the least but what the Heat will want in return surely will be.
As a fellow writer on the site said a while back, the Heat are playing much better offensive basketball with Kelly Olynyk than with Whiteside. There is also Bam Adebayo, the 14th pick in this past draft. The rookie has shown lots of promise averaging 10.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1 block in the 22 games this year when he logged at least 25 minutes. Dealing Whiteside could also help Miami’s salary cap situation.
It will not take nearly as much to land Whiteside as it would have even around the trade deadline. In fact, besides his Sacramento days, Hassan’s value may be at an all-time low which is why the Suns should be quick to pounce.
THE DEAL
The Heat immediately clear about $10M in cap space and when Jared Dudley‘s contract expires they’d get another $10M in relief immediately following the 2018-19 season. Miami would also get their own first round pick back. At this point in time, that’d likely do it. They would probably accept this even without Marquese Chriss but he could use a change of scenery and his style would fit his new home well.
The Suns do this because it immensely upgrades and shores up the center position. Not only would they have Whiteside in the starting spot but they’d keep Chandler, who is still a very strong rebounder, off the bench. Tyson has been great for the youth on this team and maybe he could help Hassan stay focused and bring out the best in him. If the new acquisition could get any where close to his peak form, Phoenix would not just have a solid rim protector but another star to add alongside Devin Booker.
“Agent Block” as he’s dubbed himself, led the league in swats in the 2015-16 season. He also led the league in caroms in the 2016-17 season. Over that two season stretch, he played in 150 games, only missing 14. That shows durability. In that time frame he made over 57% of his field goals and averaged 15.7 points, 13 rebounds and 2.9 blocks. That would make him a top 3 rebounder and league leading shot blocker among this season’s stat leaders. Who wouldn’t want that?
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Overall, with Hassan wanting a new home, the Phoenix Suns should open their doors. All of them. Especially for the low price Miami would probably ask in a trade. Booker, Josh Jackson and Whiteside could be a special trio and put Phoenix back on the map.