During the past week, numerous news sources surface with reports about the Miami Heat being rumored to be trying to deal the NBA's shot blocking leader, center Hassan Whiteside. The claims stemmed from a belief that they won't be able to afford the late-blooming big man, but that notion is "BS" as team president and GM Pat Riley iterated to the media.
"I can guarantee you there have been no discussions about the BS that you have read in the newspapers the last couple of days," Riley said via The Miami Herald. "I like our team and I want to see where we're headed."
Now, of course you can't always take what somebody says at face value and accept it to be the wholehearted truth -- that would be naive. However, the logic behind such allegations that the Heat were looking to trade Whiteside simply don't add up.
As a morningnewsusa.com writer put it, "Whiteside warrants a fresh max contract next summer, something Heat won't be able to offer him, since they don't have the Bird Rights for the shot-blocking monster."
This is simply untrue.
The article goes a bit in depth talking about how the payroll is currently at just over $91 million, about $7 million into the luxury tax. It even went so far as to mention that the Heat are currently only on the hook for about $48 million with salaries coming off the books heading into the 2016 NBA offseason.
What it fails to mention, though, is that the NBA's current (soft) salary cap of $70 million is set to skyrocket up to around $90 million during said offseason and then all the way up to a projected $108 million in 2017 thanks to the new TV deal.
In fact, the Heat could easily afford to sign Whiteside to a max contract. That won't be an issue at all.
The only reason he'd be traded is if they don't view him as part of their future plans. But Whiteside is just 26 years old and following his breakout season a year ago, he's been putting up even better numbers in 2015-16 so far. There's absolutely no reason why the Heat would feel the need to move him, as there's been no indication that he doesn't want to re-sign next offseason, and money won't be an issue.
With players like Dwyane Wade, Luol Deng, Chris Anderson, Udonis Haslem, Beno Udrih, Amare Stoudemire and Gerald Green having their contracts end, all of that cap space is opened up. At just $48 million in definite salary on the roster by the time free agency rolls around -- barring any significant trades -- it's likely that the Heat will have roughly $42 million in cap space to work with.
Don't forget, too, that Wade will have bird rights; as will Anderson and Haslem, and any of those three can potentially re-sign even if it means putting the team over the cap, so long as Whiteside signs a new contract before them, meaning the room is still technically there.
Overall, these original rumors were likely all noise and based on nothing concrete. Riley has voiced his thoughts on the matter, and more than likely, it's the truth in this scenario.
Don't worry, Heat fans; Whiteside more than likely isn't going anywhere.
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