Dallas Mavericks: Breaking Down A Potential Conley/Whiteside Summer

Hassan Whiteside

Center has been the biggest need for the Mavs since Mark Cuban bought the team in 2000. Besides both of Tyson Chandler’s years, the Mavs haven’t really had a game-changing big man.

Hassan Whiteside has had a unique path to the NBA. He played a combined 19 games with the Sacramento Kings from 2010-12. After a long two years playing on D-League teams and Chinese teams, Whiteside was signed by the Grizzlies, but was waived about a month later. One month after he was waived, the Heat signed him and his career began to take off.

Now, Whiteside has established himself as one of the premier centers in the league and one of the most dominant forces in the the paint.

After a great 2014-15 campaign and an even better 2015-16 season, Whiteside is joining a stacked unrestricted free agent center market.

Why would he choose Dallas?

First of all, Whiteside is expected to meet with the Mavs in the first few hours of free agency on Thursday night.

For Whiteside, he has a good situation in Miami. With Dwyane Wade, Goran Dragic and everyone else in the Heat organization continuing to make strides toward the future, he has a great place to thrive.

But there’s one particular thing that could lure him away from Miami: money. Whiteside is expected to demand a max deal this summer, and as one of the premier defensive centers in the league, he is definitely deserving.

The Mavs have already made it clear that they are willing to offer him the max. One interesting tweet that surfaced from the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Ira Winderman can be seen below:

The easiest way to translate that tweet is to understand that he’s going for the money. Wherever the money is at, Whiteside will most likely be there.

While the Heat can certainly offer a little more than the Mavs can, you have to wonder if they will. The new cap situation allows them to, but with large deals for Chris Bosh and Goran Dragic on the table, plus a huge contract heading Dwyane Wade’s way, they could decide to offer him a little less than max.

The fact that the Mavs are expecting a meeting that early in free agency is a good sign. Whiteside’s presence in Dallas would be extremely noticeable and he would become a centerpiece at a position that the Mavs need help with.

What would he do for the Mavs?

Whiteside would add size and strength to the Mavs roster and to the paint. The seven-footer is not one of those slim guys that you often see down low. He added a noticeable amount of upper body strength over the summer and he has arms that compare to Dwight Howard.

It’s not just his skill that helps him grab rebounds and position himself in the paint, it’s his strength and the fact that he’s a lot stronger than most other big men in the league.

Whiteside is one of just eight centers in the NBA that averaged a double-double in the 2015-16 regular season. With 14.2 points per game and 11.8 rebounds per game, he was the third-best rebounder in the league.

But, just like Conley, some of Whiteside’s best work comes on the defensive end of the floor. Last season, he made the All-Defensive Second Team and finished third in the Defensive Player of the Year voting, with two first place votes.

Whiteside’s most impressive stat was his 3.7 blocks per game, which was the best in the NBA last season, with DeAndre Jordan coming in second (2.3).

One last part of his game is the fact that he is capable of hitting midrange jumpers from time-to-time — something Tyson Chandler worked on during his time in Dallas.

He’s had some questionable attitude issues in the past, but that’s something that changes in an atmosphere with players like Wesley Matthews and Dirk Nowitzki as well as head coach Rick Carlisle.

Next: Completing A Perfect Summer