Would you support maxing out Hassan Whiteside this summer?

[Denis998]

No. Love his play, most of the time, right now. But I fear he will be Blount 2.0

I have wondered that too. Also, something about Miami doesn't really add up. Chris Bosh definitely still plays at an all-star level. Wade is at worst, an above average starter. Deng and Dragic are probably  average to slightly above average starters. Winslow is probably a capable rotation player along with mcroberts. If they ave all these guys, and Whiteside is a max-level star center, why are they so average as a team? It could very well be that none of it is Whitesides fault, but it certainly gives off the impression of a good stats guy that doesn't equal as much for wins.

their coach sucks

[MJohnnyboy]

No. Love his play, most of the time, right now. But I fear he will be Blount 2.0

I have wondered that too. Also, something about Miami doesn't really add up. Chris Bosh definitely still plays at an all-star level. Wade is at worst, an above average starter. Deng and Dragic are probably  average to slightly above average starters. Winslow is probably a capable rotation player along with mcroberts. If they ave all these guys, and Whiteside is a max-level star center, why are they so average as a team? It could very well be that none of it is Whitesides fault, but it certainly gives off the impression of a good stats guy that doesn't equal as much for wins.

Wade and Dragic don't play well together because they are both ball-dominant. Dragic's numbers have fallen off a cliff since he joined the Heat.

[The One]

No. Love his play, most of the time, right now. But I fear he will be Blount 2.0

I have wondered that too. Also, something about Miami doesn't really add up. Chris Bosh definitely still plays at an all-star level. Wade is at worst, an above average starter. Deng and Dragic are probably  average to slightly above average starters. Winslow is probably a capable rotation player along with mcroberts. If they ave all these guys, and Whiteside is a max-level star center, why are they so average as a team? It could very well be that none of it is Whitesides fault, but it certainly gives off the impression of a good stats guy that doesn't equal as much for wins.

It's weird but their defense is better without him. 

[SHAQATTACK]

No.

[max215]

Absolutely not. He is a terrible fit as he simply does not pass, and the advanced numbers pretty conclusively show that he's a net negative.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I'm not opposed on maxing out players, who at the onset don't make sense to do so, but I'll have to wait to see what opportunities are out there first. With the cap making big jump after big jump, I'm not sweating it, and I'm all for making the best team we can.

Not to say I want to be irresponsible, but I'll be more willing to make some risky deals than I usually would.

[slamtheking]

sure I'd support maxing out Whiteside -- by some team other than the Celtics

[SHAQATTACK]

sure I'd support maxing out Whiteside -- by some team other than the Celtics

Lakers threads ......are absolutely dying to max out Whitside .......he is hero to LA fans ......

[slamtheking]

sure I'd support maxing out Whiteside -- by some team other than the Celtics

Lakers threads ......are absolutely dying to max out Whitside .......he is hero to LA fans ......

hope they do for one of 2 reasons.
1) he won't be good enough to make a big impact and he won't be happy behind Hibbert
2) he'll be just good enough to help get LA in the mid-lottery which will make Philly unhappy when they get their pick next year

[moiso]

No. Love his play, most of the time, right now. But I fear he will be Blount 2.0

I have wondered that too. Also, something about Miami doesn't really add up. Chris Bosh definitely still plays at an all-star level. Wade is at worst, an above average starter. Deng and Dragic are probably  average to slightly above average starters. Winslow is probably a capable rotation player along with mcroberts. If they ave all these guys, and Whiteside is a max-level star center, why are they so average as a team? It could very well be that none of it is Whitesides fault, but it certainly gives off the impression of a good stats guy that doesn't equal as much for wins.

It's weird but their defense is better without him. 

I was going to type the same thing then saw your post.  Best shot blocker in the league and the team plays better defense when he's on the bench.

[PhoSita]

Whiteside basically never gets assists.

Not a great fit for this team. Especially since he has no range either.

[SHAQATTACK]

Well......I d rather have Noel .....who ll be a much better Celtic in the long haul

[crimson_stallion]

No. Love his play, most of the time, right now. But I fear he will be Blount 2.0

I have wondered that too. Also, something about Miami doesn't really add up. Chris Bosh definitely still plays at an all-star level. Wade is at worst, an above average starter. Deng and Dragic are probably  average to slightly above average starters. Winslow is probably a capable rotation player along with mcroberts. If they ave all these guys, and Whiteside is a max-level star center, why are they so average as a team? It could very well be that none of it is Whitesides fault, but it certainly gives off the impression of a good stats guy that doesn't equal as much for wins.

It's weird but their defense is better without him. 

I was going to type the same thing then saw your post.  Best shot blocker in the league and the team plays better defense when he's on the bench.

That advanced stats seem to tell a different story.

His DRPM of +2.97 is 11th among centers, while his overall RPM (+1.06) ranks 28th. 

For a guy who is 26 years old and 7'0" / 265 to be almost top 10 among centers in terms of defensive impact is pretty impressive...and his rebounding is also outstanding. 

Max deal...honestly I probably would.  He's young enough that a max deal wouldn't be too outlandishly high, and he's well proven that he is capable of producing at a level worthy of a max contract (his stats are DeAndre-esque).

[crimson_stallion]

Well......I d rather have Noel .....who ll be a much better Celtic in the long haul

Why do you say that?  I can't think of many (if any) ways in which Noel is (or would be) a better player.

He is the grandest example of a guy who looks solid based on box score stats, but who's advanced stats suggest he is one of the worst centers in the NBA.

His Real Plus Minus is horrendously bad, which suggests that he makes his team SIGNIFICANTLY worse every time he steps on the court - and that really says something when the team he plays for is on target to be one of the worst teams in NBA history.

He's arguably the worst offensive center in the entire NBA, his rebounding is merely "ok", his defense is statistically above average (but not spectacular).  His basketball IQ seems to be completely horrendous.  The only things going his way really are his athleticism and youth.

Whiteside by comparison is an elite rim protector, an elite rebounder, and a borderline elite defensive player and a slightly below average (albiet still productive) offensive player.

The way I see it Whiteside is worlds above Noel and probably a big reason why the Heat have been so competitive thus far.

[crimson_stallion]

 Yes. Nothing else to spend money on. Fills a big need. Who would you rather have a young Whiteside or old Amir and Jonas combined 18 million.

Amir and Jonas are just two years older than Whiteside. Not much of an age disparity there.

But anyway, I'd rather invest my money on someone who I can rely on in the 4th quarter. Whiteside is a great talent but if you noticed during the Heat game they didn't play him in the 4th quarter because of his free throw shooting woes. He fits into the Deandre Jordan/Dwight Howard/Andre Drummond fold. Great defensive talents/elite rebounders whose FTs issues are exploited if played in crunch time.

You're telling me that you wouldn't welcome Deandre Jordan, Dwight Howard or Andre Drummond onto this team, given the chance?

I certainly would.

There are very few centers I would max out in the league. Particularly in our system where we tend to value our wing/swings more. I think we showed how to combat Whiteside in our game against the Heat. He doesn't match up well at all with shooting bigs and that seems to be where the league will be heading in the next 3-4 years with people like Towns and Porzingis maturing and guys like Olynyk, Love and Mirotic being a large part of rotations.
I'd rather go and max out someone like Harrison Barnes or make a run at the big free agents like Horford and Durant (no matter how ambitious)

To be fair, I think our current system is more a function of the players we have...rather than the players being chosen to suit the system.

We play a style of game that depends heavily our guards and wings, simply because we are a team full of guards and wings.  Hell, even half of our bigs are practically guards/wings in terms of their playing style. 

I wouldn't worry too much about the deal, I think it'd be pretty low risk.  At the end of the day Whiteside has shown for a couple of seasons now, that he is a guy who is proven to be able to dominate as a rebounder and as a shotblocker.  Even if he never gets better, and even if his motivation dropped off, he's always going to be a 7 footer who can rebounder protect the basket at a high level.  There is always going to be a demand for guys like that around the league, so I don't think we'd ever have trouble dealing him away again if the experiment didn't work out.