The NBA trade rumors for Hassan Whiteside continue even though the Miami Heat have vehemently denied that they are shopping him.
While it may be true that they are not shopping the center who is probably the biggest bargain in the NBA right now, at the back of their minds they know that Whiteside could walk away as a free agent.
According to Basketball Insiders, the Heat must face the writing on the wall. "The reality is that it's going to prove very challenging to keep him considering the Heat's cap situation," BI's Joel Brigham says. "It's very possible that Whiteside bolts to another team this summer, so cashing him out for some assets now would be a whole lot better than losing him for nothing by the time July rolls around."
Who would trade for Whiteside considering these limitations? There are no guarantees that Whiteside will stay beyond this season so giving up real assets to acquire him would only assure him for 2015-16.
According to All You Can Heat, there are still some possible candidates. Wes Goldberg outlines the teams that should pursue Whiteside.
"As a GM, I would have to be in a position to (a) win this season, (b) make him my top priority and offer him a ton of money this summer and (c) be willing to play the half court style that's becoming extinct in order to get the most out of his talents," Goldberg stated. "That probably eliminates any team hoping to be in the Durant Chase, or a team so bad that he would want to bolt. So if I'm the general manager for the Raptors, Hornets, Knicks, or Mavericks, I'm giving Pat Riley a phone call."
The Heat would like to reap the benefits of having Whiteside until the very end so it has to be at the trade deadline. If the Charlotte Hornets are still poised for a playoff run, they could trade Al Jefferson's expiring contract, Marvin Williams (also expiring) and possibly Tyler Zeller as a real asset that the Heat would keep.
The Heat will send Whiteside along with salary dump candidates Chris Andersen and maybe Luol Deng and Josh McRoberts. This trade will not weaken any team considerably and the Hornets can still have the cap space to try and sign Whiteside and their own free agent Nicholas Batum.
This is trade is purely speculative and any actual proposal from the aforementioned teams may vary.