The Miami Heat are a really bad team in their first season without Dwyane Wade.
The veteran guard left to join the Chicago Bulls as a free agent last summer, and the next phase in the franchise’s history is off to a horrible start. Miami is 11-28, which marks the second-worst record in the NBA and ties the Brooklyn Nets for the most losses.
The team clearly is in a rebuild, and that makes it an interesting one to watch as next month’s trade deadline approaches.
The Heat, according to ESPN’s Zach Lowe in his recent podcast, are willing to listen on all of their players for the right price.
“Up and down the roster, literally every player,” Lowe said. “Literally no one is untouchable, not even Hassan Whiteside, by a long shot.”
Whiteside is averaging 17.2 points and 14.3 rebounds per game. He’s a double-double machine and one of the best rim protectors in the league. But paying a center more than $98 million over a four-year contract doesn’t make a ton of sense in today’s run-and-gun, 3-point shooting focused NBA.
The Heat also need to stockpile assets for their rebuild, and Whiteside is their best trade chip to acquire them.
Thumbnail photo via Kelvin Kuo/USA TODAY Sports Images
