Miami Heat: Top 3 Hassan Whiteside trade destinations

With the annual trade deadline quickly approaching, here are three potential destinations the Miami Heat should consider for center Hassan Whiteside.

It’s been a highly frustrating year thus far for Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside.

First of all, Whiteside has already been sidelined for 18 games due to injury, and thus has not been able to improve upon his career season last year in which he averaged 17.0 points, 14.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game.

But more glaring has been the decrease in Whiteside’s role. With the advent of small-ball throughout the league and the arrival of the versatile Kelly Olynyk in the frontcourt, Whiteside has seen his playing time drop to just 25.8 minutes per game, after averaging a career-high 32.6 minutes per game last season.

Upon returning from a recent 11-game absence, his lack of playing time down the closing stretch of games was very noticeable. In the initial five games , Whiteside played a total of 11 minutes in the fourth quarters, including three games where he didn’t leave the bench.

Following this frustrating stretch, Whiteside nonetheless took the high road when pressed about his situation:

"“That’s what it’s looking like. It’s looking like he’s running just different people. That’s what it’s looking like. But you know, we got the win. We’re fifth in the East now. So, let’s keep it going….You know, the decision-making is up to coach. I just can’t control that. I can just cheer. I can just cheer for the team. That’s who we wanted to go with.”"

To his credit, Whiteside has responded over the past three games, averaging 14.3 points, 13.3 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game. Most notably, he has played a total of 16 fourth-quarter minutes over these games, clearly gaining the confidence of head coach Erik Spoelstra as he rounds himself into game condition. However, with frontcourt players James Johnson and Justise Winslow set to return to the lineup, it’s unclear exactly what role Whiteside will have moving forward.

Recently, Spoelstra commented on the success that the duo of Johnson and Kelly Olynyk have enjoyed when paired together:

"“We become a much more, significantly more versatile team with James Johnson on the court. We already have versatility throughout our roster, but that takes us to a totally different level. And then when you have two guys at the same time, two bigs that can handle, can shoot, make plays off the dribble, play in the post, there’s not anywhere on the court where you can’t be effective. That [pairing] just presents some challenges.”"

So while the Heat’s offense has been 6.0 points per 100 possessions better off with Whiteside off the court, that doesn’t mean there aren’t other teams in the league who may feel the former Marshall product could make a significant difference for their franchise, specifically as an elite rebounder and rim protector.

With the Feb. 8 trade deadline fast approaching, here are three potential destinations should the Heat decide to entertain a trade.