Miami Heat: Hassan Whiteside’s journey to relevance

The most consistent criticism of the Miami Heat in recent years has been their lack of production at the center position. They have found an answer with Hassan Whiteside.

The Miami Heat were nothing but smiles after their win against the Chicago Bulls. Interesting because this win was not in the middle of a heated playoff series nor did it secure a playoff spot. Yet there was the Miami bench, slapping fives and smiling like they just won a big game. The focus of their joy was Hassan Whiteside.

Whiteside has basically come out of nowhere to provide the Heat with their first serviceable center since Shaquille O’Neal was protecting the paint for Miami. On this particular night against the Bulls, Whiteside recorded a rare triple-double with 14 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 blocks; the first triple-double involving blocks since Shawn Bradley accomplished the feat during the 1997-98 season.

Whiteside was not going against a frontcourt of scrubs either. He was banging bodies and making skilled big men like Pau Gasol, Taj Gibson, and Joakim Noah look downright feeble at times. Even more impressive, he earned these numbers coming off the bench and playing less than 25 minutes for the game.

It is hard to imagine that a player that is competing with this much determination was labeled as “immature” before coming to the NBA with major questions about his work ethic and intensity. However, his path to Miami showed him that nothing is given and everything is earned in the NBA.

With the third pick in the second round, the Sacramento Kings drafted Hassan Whiteside out of Marshall University. Though he was a considered a project with below average basketball IQ and awareness by NBA scouts, the Kings needed size and the 6’11 center with a 7’7 wingspan was too good to pass up.

Playing behind DeMarcus Cousins and Samuel Dalembert, Whiteside saw zero game time before he was sent to the Reno Bighorns in the NBA Developmental League where he struggled, scoring 4.4 points and grabbing 2.7 rebounds per game. Whiteside would only appear in one game as a King before being sidelined with a partially torn tendon that would knock him out for the rest of the season.

After one more unsuccessful stint with the Bighorns, the Kings decided to waive Whiteside after the 2011-12 season fearing that his immaturity had not been resolved. He was then acquired by the Sioux Falls Skyforce in December 2012 and traded to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in January 2013.

The travel did not stop for Whiteside who took his game to an international level, playing two stints in Lebanon and China in a year and a half. In his first stint in China with the Sichuan Blue Whales after playing Lebanon, Whiteside managed to win a NBL Championship and was named Finals MVP as well as Defensive Player of the Year.

After being released by Jiangsu Tongxi of China in April 2014 following another stint in Lebanon, Whiteside attempted to make his way stateside again by signing with the Memphis Grizzlies in September 2014, where he was waived a month later. However, he showed that his game matured and he harnessed his size to average 21.8 points, 14.8 rebounds, and 5.0 blocks in four NBA D-League games with the Sioux Falls Skyforce and Iowa Energy.

After being picked up and waived again by the Memphis Grizzlies, the Miami Heat quickly picked him up in November 2014 and assigned him to the Sioux City Skyforce. After Josh McRoberts tore his meniscus, the Heat recalled Whiteside and both parties never looked back.

Whiteside started slowly, averaging 13.5 minutes in his first five games becoming a regular rotation player on December 23, 2014, averaging 3.2 points on 33.3 percent shooting and 4.8 rebounds. His energy, however, was infectious and it began to eventually produce stats for the Miami Heat.

In his last ten games, Whiteside has been averaging 12.7 points on 67.5 percent shooting from the field, 9.3 rebounds, and an impressive 3.6 blocks while only playing 23.2 minutes per game. If Whiteside were given a more suitable 36 minutes per game, he would have been averaging 19.7 points, 14.4 rebounds, and 5.6 blocks in his last 10 games.

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In fact, even taking into account his first few games where he was not producing at his current prolific rate, Whiteside leads the league in blocks per 36 minutes at 5.1 among players who have played more than one game. That kind of production has had an incredible impact for the Heat whenever he is in the game.

When he is on the court, the Miami Heat have a net rating of +2.6. When Whiteside is off the court, the Heat are putting up a net rating of -4.6. That resulting +7.2 points per 100-possession swing and .231 win-shares per game that he earns (good for 12^th in the league) is indicative of Whiteside’s quick ascent to being one of the most important players for the Heat.

Taking 65.3 percent of his shots within three feet, Whiteside is the perfect complement for power forward Chris Bosh who loves to do his damage from the outside. Converting on 77.3 percent on his shots within three feet and gathering 3.7 offensive rebounds per 36 minutes, Whiteside has shown an ability to get down and dirty on the low block and fight for his offensive opportunities.

He still struggles with foul trouble (5.0 fouls per 36 minutes), which is the result of his awareness and basketball IQ still lagging behind his physical development. However, now that he is getting consistent reps in the rotation, Whiteside should be able to curb that weakness and become an impact starter for the Heat.

Though his transaction sheet reads more like a transfer list of a troubled youth bouncing from school to school, Whiteside has made the transition from hopeless project to rising star in the NBA. His emergence from the bowels of the D-League has been nothing short of extraordinary, which the Miami Heat and head coach Eric Spoelstra eager to see what he can become. Keep celebrating Miami, you finally found another center.

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