Hassan’s Ceiling
Miami signed Hassan Whiteside to a max contract this past summer hoping that he would improve on some of his flaws, but after two complete seasons he hasn’t attempted to improve his bad defensive tendencies. And that’s troubling.
Whiteside has proven to be a decent basketball player over the past two seasons. If he can keep improving, I will eat my words and accept my defeat gladly at the hands of Agent Block.
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But, I think Whiteside has hit his ceiling. He is 27 years old and is playing for a team that seems to have no identity right now.
Pat Riley wants to build around Hassan Whiteside, or so it seems, but I do not see that as a possibility for the Heat.
They would have better luck building around Dion Waiters.
If you’re going to build around a player, he should be willing to take responsibility for his actions on the court, act as a mature team player and his teammates should rally around him.
Whiteside goes 0-for-3 on that checklist.
A center to build around would be Karl-Anthony Towns or Joel Embiid. Those two young players make everyone around them better and make their teammates want to be better.
Whiteside is not a leader. He needs to be led.
I would love to see Hassan prove me wrong and show all the doubters that he is more than what he has shown us.
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The reality is that, currently, Hassan Whiteside is an overpaid and overrated center that was not an All-Star snub. Rudy Gobert was a center that was a snub, not Whiteside.