NBA free agency: Heat ‘regain footing’ in Hassan Whiteside pursuit

The Miami Heat have reportedly clawed back into the race to sign Hassan Whiteside after their Friday meeting in 2016 NBA free agency

Despite the fact that many teams around the league were expected to have heavy interest in center Hassan Whiteside entering 2016 NBA free agency, the big man thwarted the hopes of many with the fact that he’d seemingly narrowed it down to just the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks. Whiteside gave only those two teams meetings to start free agency, but leaving Miami for the Mavericks seemed like the most likely option when July 1 rolled around.

However, that’s seemingly all changed after the center’s meeting with the Heat early Friday morning.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, the Heat’s meeting with Hassan Whiteside went well enough that they’ve “regained footing” against the Mavs in the duel to try and sign one of the biggest prizes available in free agency this summer:

If you’re the Heat, you have to be ecstatic about this. Despite the many faults of Hassan Whiteside, you also can’t deny the value that he brings to the table as a pick-and-roll option, a rebounder, and of course a shot blocker.

However, this is a low blow for the Mavericks in the worst way. Dallas hasn’t soon forgotten about what happened with their attempt to sign another center in DeAndre Jordan just last year and now they could miss out on their top target in the frontcourt once again.

Obviously these meetings didn’t amount to anything definitive, but we’ll have to see what happens with Hassan Whiteside as he’s going to make a splash wherever he lands.

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