Miami Heat

Ignore the rumors: Why it doesn't make sense to trade Hassan Whiteside

Published Dec. 18, 2015 11:05 a.m. ET

foxsports

Since the Heat don't have Bird Rights on Hassan Whiteside when he hits unrestricted free agency this summer, that means the team can't go over the salary cap to re-sign him. This makes it all the more difficult to bring him back to Miami, unless the team ends up getting creative with its cap situation (totally possible, given the Heat's history).

Now though, trade rumors are swirling around Whiteside. That's all they've been so far. Just rumors, ones which the Heat have furiously denied. Ethan Skolnick of the Miami Herald lays out exactly why the Heat would deny these reports: Because trading Whiteside doesn't actually make sense for the Heat.

Let's also not forget the Heat have ways of bringing in Whiteside or another expensive free agent this summer. Do we really think Dwyane Wade just signed that one-year deal so that he could get an even bigger one with the salary cap goes up next year? Was that truly his agenda?

The Heat could only be on the books for as little as $48 million next year, when the salary cap is expected to rise all the way up to the vicinity of $88 million. If Miami actually renounces the rights of Dwyane Wade and Luol Deng, who also hits the free-agent market, eliminating their cap holds, then the Heat have a whole bunch of room with which to work.

Remember when we learned, originally reported by Yahoo! Sports, that Pat Riley had told LaMarcus Aldridge to take a one-year deal with Portland last summer and then consider coming to the Heat during the 2016 offseason, when Miami would have cap room? Doesn't that sort of give away the plan the Heat have all along? Doesn't it give some implication that Wade is willing to take less money than he's made during his prime to get a big name to come to Miami? So, if the Heat want, they could bring Whiteside back. He just has to be the big free agent they want heading into the future.

Whiteside's contract is virtually worthless to another team.

That doesn't mean Whiteside is worthless. His skill set is worth plenty, even in a smallball era. But he's making just $981,348 this season, and he will be a free agent as soon as the season ends. Miami cannot sign him to an extension now and, unless he's willing to take a mid-level deal (he won't be), the Heat will need to use cap space to re-sign him because it doesn't have Bird Rights on him. This is a dilemma, and it will be very tricky to keep Whiteside and Dwyane Wade and add talent this summer.

But here's the thing about the Heat not having Bird Rights:

Neither would any team that acquires him.

That means there is virtually no advantage to acquiring him now. He's simply headed back into the free agent pool at the end of the season, when every team will have a chance to pitch him. The only potential edge you get in getting him early is that you can get him acclimated to your system, and try to show him it's the perfect place for him to spend his future. In other words, exactly the same situation the Heat is in now with him. But that doesn't seem like very solid ground, not solid enough to deal a real asset for him.