NBA free agency: Hassan Whiteside to meet with Dallas, then Miami
By John Buhler
Free agent center Hassan Whiteside will first meet with the Dallas Mavericks before meeting with his current team in the Miami Heat in NBA free agency.
According to Ken Berger of CBS Sports, the Dallas Mavericks will meet with free agent center Hassan Whiteside first before he meets with his current team in the Miami Heat on Friday.
With free agency under way, Dallas up first with Hassan Whiteside, who will then meet with the incumbent Miami Heat, league source says.
— Ken Berger (@KBergNBA) July 1, 2016
Whiteside is looking for a maximum contract and hasn’t been shy about possibly leaving the Heat to get it. He became a star player for Erik Spoelstra’s Heat the last two seasons as a great rim protector and low post scoring presence for Miami. Now he is set to command quite the payday on the open market.
Whiteside is wise to meet with another team besides Miami first in NBA free agency, and Dallas might actually end up being a great fit for him if he does sign a multi-year deal with the Mavericks. He could provide the necessary rim protection to help usually offensive-minded Dallas become a more balanced team to better contend in the deep Western Conference.
When Dallas has a top level defensive team, the Mavericks are able to go on deep playoff runs behind star player Dirk Nowitzki. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban won’t be shy about spending a great deal of money to build a better supporting cast for Nowitzki in the last few years of his Hall of Fame NBA career. While Nowitzki is also a free agent, he’s likely going to spend his entire career with Dallas.
A Whiteside signing potentially gives the Mavericks that much-needed boost to be more than just a perennial first-round playoff victim as they have been most of the time since winning it all in the 2011 NBA Finals.
For more NBA free agency news, please check out our NBA free agency category page.