Portland Trail Blazers: Why Hassan Whiteside is worth the risk

1. Impact on both ends

Regardless of what people think of Whiteside, he is a great player when he puts it all together. He has the physical tools necessary — 7’7” wingspan — to be a great lob threat/put-back rebounder on offense and an elite rim protector on defense.

The Blazers’ defense in the playoffs was able to play successfully with Enes Kanter — labeled as a bad player on defense — at center with a separated shoulder. Now add in a Whiteside, who is a good defender and a perfect fit for the team’s system, which drops the center and lets him roam like a free safety down low. He should make the team a top-10 defense right away.

After the 2015-16 season, Whiteside was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive Second Team. He led the league with 3.7 blocks per game in 2015-16, led the league in rebounds with 14.1 per game in 2016-17, and was No. 1 in the NBA in 2018-19 in total rebound percentage at 25.9 percent.

On offense, he has proved plenty of times that he can dominate games. Against the San Antonio Spurs this past season, Whiteside scored 29 points, grabbed 20 rebounds and blocked nine shots in 32 minutes of action.

Whiteside is going to thrive in the pick-and-roll with the Blazers’ backcourt. He is going to be hard to stop when rolling to the rim while defenses worry about Lillard, McCollum and Rodney Hood attacking.

Portland is loaded up with 3-point shooters and Whiteside will be able to hang down low and grab all the long misses for more second-chance opportunities. He has a decent low-post game and should be able to score in one-on-one matchups.