The Miami Heat made Hassan Whiteside their top priority this offseason and quickly agreed upon a four-year, $98 million contract after he received considerable interest from rival teams including the Dallas Mavericks and Portland Trail Blazers. 

Whiteside turned 27 last month and he’s still figuring out many of the nuances of the game, particularly on defense, due to his convoluted path to the Heat. The Heat gave Whiteside the perfect blend of opportunity and culture to foster the gifts of physical attributes, talent and eccentric personality. Whiteside was the NBA’s best non-rookie contract value other than Stephen Curry over the past two seasons, making just $769,881 and $981,348.

Whiteside scored an outright dominant 1.34 points per possessions as a roll man this past season on 199 attempts, pairing well with both Goran Dragic and Dwyane Wade.

Whiteside was a high frequency post player but he scored just 0.79 points per possession in those situations. Whiteside can’t handle a double-team as he’s completely turnover prone trying to pass out of it. It is the type of action defenses like to attack not because they fear his scoring as much as they view it as an advantageous way to force a turnover.

Whiteside ranked sixth in the NBA in True Shooting Percentage at .629 and increasing his rim runs and talking him out of his penchant for post-ups makes him capable of leading the NBA in the mark.

Unlike many of his shotblocking, rim running peers at center like Andre Drummond, DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard, there has been considerable improvement in Whiteside’s free throw shooting up to 65 percent this season.

The actual value of his defense has been debatable since he emerged with the Heat in the middle of the 14-15 season, but it was clear by the time of the Toronto series that his rim protection made a huge difference. Whiteside led the NBA in Nylon Calculus’ Rim Protection stat this past season with 2.27 points saved per game. Before the All-Star break, the Heat played better defense without Whiteside on the floor as he was a little too eager to just be a shotblocker. After the break, the Heat were more than three points per 100 possessions better on defense with Whiteside. 

Whiteside ranked 18th in DRPM during the regular season as Miami often had better defensive numbers without him on the floor despite his impressive counting stats in which he ranked second in the NBA in block percentage and also second in total rebounding percentage. Whiteside’s length and athleticism makes the straightforward plays appear effortless, but he’s too easily baited into leaving his feet for shot fakes and will get lost in rotations. Over time, the hope is Whiteside will learn the nuances of being a rim protector and not so impatiently chase blocks.

Whiteside didn’t defend the post very well, giving up 0.99 points per possession compared to 0.65 for someone like DeAndre Jordan.

Whiteside can be a maddening player and there are concerns with how he’ll adjust mentally to his newfound wealth. Whiteside is already 27 so there are limits to how much better he’ll become, but the Heat are getting his full prime and he’ll have enough motivation to continue to produce for one final major contract when he reenters the market at 31.

With the uncertainty of Chris Bosh’s health, the Heat couldn’t afford to let Whiteside leave in free agency. Miami couldn't get Whiteside to take a discount but had little leverage to do so since they were unable to offer an extra season without his full Bird rights.

Grade for Heat: A 

Whiteside was drafted by the Sacramento Kings in 2010 and reborn with the Heat in 2014. These are two franchises couldn’t be more different in terms of their culture and track record of success. Maybe Whiteside needed to travel the world to find his game but you can’t help but consider what could have been if he would have been a rookie playing with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. The Whiteside that has emerged over the past two seasons with those three instantly becomes one of the two or three best teams of all-time. 

I interviewed Whiteside at the pre-draft camp in 2010 and I asked him whether he believes he can develop into an All-Star center; he one-upped me with his response.

"I'm looking to be a Hall of Famer. I have big goals."

Grade for Hassan Whiteside: A