RADIO
Welcome to the third part of RotoBaller's new series taking a close look at selected universally-owned star players. NBA writer Nate Derosena will take a fresh look at players that have fantasy basketball owners wondering -- what's up? Where's the big jump in stats you were expecting? Where were the big numbers he was producing in the past? Or alternately, can his current production be sustained?
Previously, we looked at a young star who hasn't quite taken the leap he was expected to in Andrew Wiggins, then an oft-injured veteran who'd taken a leap (and who got injured again shortly after we published the piece) in Danilo Gallinari. This time, Nate will take a look at a bigger (in size) player who's gone from D-League afterthought to first-round fantasy value in the span of a little over a year.
NBA Player Analysis: Hassan Whiteside, The Last Old School Center
Hassan Whiteside is a rare diamond in the rough in the NBA who has managed to transform from a raw product into a dominant big man in the league. After being drafted in 2010 by the Sacramento Kings, he bounced around the league and barely played until he was called up from the D-League by the Miami Heat in December 2014. He managed to greatly impress coach Erik Spoelstra, and became became starting center for the Heat by mid-January of 2015 – from perpetual D-League afterthought to a starting center in a little over a month.
Since then, Whiteside has become one of the NBA’s premiere shot blockers. In 2016, he is leading the league in blocks at 3.9 per game and 216 blocks total. These numbers represent a massive lead over the next best shot-blocker in the league, DeAndre Jordan, who only has 2.3 blocks per game and 139 total.
Whiteside became the first player since 2013 to record a triple double including 10+ blocks, a feat he first accomplished on January 25, 2015 and which he has now done an astounding four times since then, most recently this past February 7. Only five other active players have recorded even one triple double with blocks (Dwight Howard in 2008, JaVale McGee in 2011, Serge Ibaka and Roy Hibbert in 2012, and Joakim Noah in 2013), and Whiteside did it four times in a little over a year.
On top of his unmatched prowess and upside in blocks, Whiteside is also currently second in the league in field goal percentage (.610) and fourth in the league in rebounds per game (11.7), making him an elite producer in all the traditional big man stats. His FT%, while poor, is not near as bad as Jordan’s or Andre Drummond’s, and it is relatively low-impact -- .615 on 4.0 FT per game.
In a league where many feel as though the center position is dying, Whiteside seems to be a major counterpoint. He’s a throwback to an older time, something highlighted by the fact that he recently eclipsed Alonzo Mourning’s team records as the fastest player to reach 300 blocks and 1,000 rebounds in a season.
This production is not without controversy, though. Advanced metrics indicate his actual contribution to whether the Heat win or lose is not nearly as much as his lofty stats would indicate. Anecdotally, he is known to be very aware of his statistics, and often play for defensive rebounds and blocks at the expense of covering his man or contributing on team defense.
The Heat seem to agree, at least under the surface, as they reportedly don’t see Whiteside as a fit for a coach in Erik Spoelstra who’d like to play more “modern basketball” with small-ball lineups. It was even rumored he could’ve been traded at the trade deadline if the Heat were presented with a good offer. Ten or fifteen years ago, it would’ve been unheard of for a contending team to trade away a big man with massive rebounding and shot-blocking statistics in his prime – and if a team had put him on the block at that time, he would’ve received offers involving high draft pick consideration. But things are different now, as teams seem to be aware of how misleading some of the massive statistics provided by certain big men could be.
For now, Whiteside remains on the Heat, and he remains in a big role. Despite the trade talk, bouts of knee tendinitis, suspensions for ill-tempered play on the court, and slight turmoil with teammates Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, Whiteside has still been producing very well and seeming to find ways to improve. This is the other quandary with him – while there are some ways in which he is a terrible intangibles guy (a stat hound, a hot-temper), there are other ways in which he has great intangibles – he is competitive and dedicated to working on his game. It’s no mistake he managed to dig himself out of D-League purgatory to become a productive NBA player.
Even now, he seems to be improving every month – consider that he’s shooting a very respectable .779 FT% since the beginning of February, compared to a .542 FT% on the season prior to that point. Even a league-average FT% from his point forward would represent a massive increase in both real game and fantasy value. It’s a great sign that he seems to be working on it and has shown progress.
Whiteside will continue to assume a big role for the Heat with Chris Bosh possibly out for the remainder of the season. Josh McRoberts and Amar'e Stoudemire are the other two traditional bigs on the team, and they are both extremely injury-prone and the Heat will limit their minutes. Whiteside will continue to get all the minutes he can handle in these circumstances.
Whiteside will be a free agent at the end of the season, and there are indications that both sides may want to move on from this uneasy marriage. For the rest of this season, though, his big role and big stats are locked in stone. If he can continue to put up a respectable free throw percentage with his massive FG%, rebounding, and blocks, he will deliver first-round fantasy value until the end of the year.
Looking ahead, it’s true that he may not be a fit with the Heat in the future. His stats might also be extremely inflated compared to his real life value. However, his stats are all that count in fantasy basketball, and even if his position and style of play are "dying" in the modern NBA, he will be a fit on fantasy rosters wherever he plays in this league.
