Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside. (Photo : Getty Images)
The latest news in NBA free agency as the frenzy is about to start centered on Hassan Whiteside's shocking snub of the Lakers.
The Tinseltown team was long regarded as the favorites since they can offer him max money, the best exposure and the Hollywood lifestyle-things that Whiteside is thought to covet due to his journeyman career.
However, Whiteside did not even schedule a meeting with them, as SB Nation reported.
"The Miami free agent will meet with the Dallas Mavericks first, who should be considered the favorites at this point, They'll be followed by the Portland Trail Blazers and then the Heat, who hope to retain the player who started much of the past two years for them at center."
Whiteside's camp has not given any reason why they did not choose to meet with the Lakers as of now. It was previously reported that the Lakers have made Whiteside the priority after they were also not given a meeting date with top free agent Kevin Durant.
Now, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of the Yahoo Sports, the defensive center is "leaning towards Dallas."
The Mavericks recently ramped up efforts to obtain the services of Whiteside and have probably abandoned their pursuit of Kevin Durant as well. They have also been reluctant to offer a max deal for their own free agent, small forward Chandler Parsons.
Parsons had earlier mentioned that he deserves a max deal but the Mavericks openly declared that they are pursuing Whiteside, Memphis Grizzlies' point guard Mike Conley and Charlotte Hornets' forward Nic Batum.
According to Kurt Helin of NBC Sports, this could be a ploy for Whiteside to force the Miami Heat to give him the max offer. Whiteside already mentioned that he wants to stay in Miami but the Heat could not max him out because they want to wait for Kevin Durant-who granted a meeting with them.
The question, though, is why not use the Lakers-who were very capable of maxing him out? Perhaps it's because Dallas is really on its way to becoming a Texas power again.
"If I were Whiteside's agent and wanted to up the pressure on Miami to come in with a max offer, this might be exactly what I'd want to leak before I met with them," Helin offered. "Or, maybe Whiteside likes the potential with himself at the five and Dirk Nowitzki at the four in Dallas (especially if they can convince Mike Conley to leave Memphis, as they are trying to do)."
