The LA Lakers need a center and they plan to pursue HassanWhiteside. With their cap space, they can easily pull the rug from the Heat.
Whiteside wants to make his decision quickly and he has pretty much thrown "loyalty" out the window. This is consistent with projections that he would want to cash in on his breakthrough season.
However, the Lakers are far from alone in their quest for Whiteside. The Dallas Mavericks are also eager for a center since they let Tyson Chandler walk after their 2011 Championship. The Boston Celtics are also reportedly throwing their hat in.
The worst case scenario is that the Lakers may have to make a trade if they miss out on Whiteside and the other centers in the market.
One possible option that could emerge is Andrew Bogut. The Australian center could be traded by the Golden State Warriors. The notion was this is dependent on Kevin Durant picking the Warriors, but CSN Bay Area reported that Golden State could trade their center no matter what.
"The Warriors apparently were displeased with much of Bogut's postseason work prior to the injury," Monte Poole of CSN reported.
The Warriors thought Bogut failed to deliver in the rebounding department. Even when he was playing, the Warriors were woefully outrebounded, even in the Western Conference Finals against Oklahoma City. They escaped that series, but eventually lost the title.
Poole concluded: "If all things were equal and the Warriors were forced to choose between Bogut and Ezeli, two sources expressed belief the team would prefer Ezeli, who was cheaper last season but almost certainly won't be next season."
The Lakers could take a flyer on him since his contract is expiring next year. It is believed that the Warriors would rather trade him into cap space-for Durant or another free agent that could help them.
Another center that could be traded for cap space is the Milwaukee Bucks' Greg Monroe as Danny Leroux of Sporting News mentioned.
"It is often bad form to trade someone who signed so recently, but the Bucks may be able to thread that needle by finding a team excited to start Monroe. Getting a small asset back would be great but opening up some minutes in the frontcourt rotation and potentially a serious amount of salary cap space (he will make about $17.4 million in 2016-17) could justify the move even with no return," Leroux stated.
Monroe is still a good center who delivers the points and rebounds. He could even become the starting center for the Lakers in the long-term but they may need to add defensive forwards around him.