Here’s the Miami Herald reporting on Heat center Hassan Whiteside, who is having a fantastic season as his value rises:
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Heat officials firmly denied a report that Miami is shopping Hassan Whiteside in an effort to acquire Kings center DeMarcus Cousins or Rockets center Dwight Howard.
And although there have been cases during Pat Riley’s 21-year tenure that the team denied talks, and then a deal was consummated, this time it has good reason for citing a report as implausible.
Specifically, it relates to Whiteside’s contract, which is virtually worthless to an acquiring team, unless that team is trying to make a title run with him this season.
He’s making just $981,348 this season, meaning that Miami would need to include several other contracts just to get anywhere near the necessary salary for Howard ($22.8 million) or Cousins ($15.8 million).
And, as is the predicament for the Heat now, any team acquiring Whiteside would not have his “Bird Rights,” meaning that it would need to use salary cap space to re-sign him.
