Portland Trail Blazers: Why Hassan Whiteside is worth the risk

2. Expiring contract

Whiteside is set to make $27.1 million this next year. That is a ton of money, but it’s only for one season. After that, he’ll be a free agent. Leonard and Harkless were also on expiring contracts, so there’s a chance they could have lost those guys for nothing. This trade fills a short-term need and is more of a low-risk/high-reward move for the Blazers.

If Portland keeps Whiteside the entire season and at the end of the year doesn’t want to bring him back, it can wash its hands of him and move on. The Blazers have younger guys like Collins and Nurkic they can rely on going forward.

Whiteside and Bazemore will both be unrestricted free agents at the end of the 2019-20 campaign. If the Blazers let both guys walk, they would have a little bit of money to spend in free agency and could avoid the luxury tax as well.

Another reason Whiteside being on an expiring deal is good for the Blazers is they can use him as a trade asset at the deadline. If Nurkic can come back and play meaningful minutes, Portland could look to move Whiteside and his expiring contract to another franchise for a player on a larger, longer-term deal who might be frustrated with his situation.