Whiteside needs to get his shit straight. The players don't park in a parking lot.....it's a loading dock!
‘This is what I’ve been waiting for,’ Hassan Whiteside says after embrace from Damian Lillard and the Blazers https://theathletic.com/1073768/201...-embrace-from-damian-lillard-and-the-blazers/ LAS VEGAS — As Hassan Whiteside was introduced Thursday as the newest member of the Trail Blazers, the crux of this story sat somewhere between his glittery-red shoes and half-unbuttoned red shirt. As he mostly spoke in generalities, calling his trade from Miami to Portland “a fresh start” and “the perfect situation,” his cellphone rested in his pocket, holding all the receipts, all the proof of what he was saying. “One of the best things in life is to be wanted,” said Gabe Blair, Whiteside’s trainer and manager. “And if you really feel that from a team, and its players, it can do wonders.” And that’s where Whiteside’s cellphone comes in. It shows the multiple calls he received from Trail Blazers captain Damian Lillard after the Blazers acquired Whiteside for Maurice Harkless and Meyers Leonard. The calls, as Lillard talked about last week, were mostly about communication and how the two needed to be open and honest with each other. And, Whiteside said, they also stressed the need to respect coach Terry Stotts. “I think the things that stuck out the most was he was just communicating, and stressing that it had to happen on both ends,” Whiteside said. “Regardless of what we are feeling at the time, we all have the same goal. And he said he would never try to stand me up, or show out on me, or another person, and he expects the same. And he was like, if Coach talks, just respect it.” There were also multiple text messages. But they were not ordinary text messages. When Lillard texted Whiteside, the messages were measured not in lines, but in multiple screens. “I’m talking about … like, Dame wrote books,” Whiteside said. There was stuff about basketball. More stuff about communicating. And an outline of how things work in Portland. But above all, it was one big open-armed welcome. “And I was like, man, I’m here. This is all right,” Whiteside said. “This is what I’ve been waiting for.” Throughout his career — two seasons in Sacramento, two seasons overseas and five seasons in Miami — Whiteside was rarely influenced by a leader. He noted that Dwyane Wade was a mentor in Miami, but that was only for two seasons, and never did he reach Whiteside like Lillard has in the week since the trade. “I’ve never had anybody approach me like that,” Whiteside said. “Outside of D. Wade, maybe, but D. Wade wasn’t there a couple years. But what Dame showed me was how serious he is, and what kind of leader he is. That made me even more excited about coming here because he was showing me his teammate side, his leadership side.” There is an uncomfortable unwillingness from Whiteside to acknowledge what many have written, or said, about his character. That he is a selfish player. That he is difficult to coach. And that he pouts and shows flashes of immaturity. But perhaps that is why the Blazers’ open-arms welcome and Lillard’s direct and firm embrace is why Whiteside on Thursday was likening his Portland arrival to a divorce, second marriage and honeymoon. “It’s like a marriage,” Whiteside said of his parting ways with Miami. “Sometimes, it just wears on you. It doesn’t make one person bad, or the other bad. You just get remarried. And you come in, and, ‘All right, I learned, let’s get this new marriage going.’” Earlier, he talked about his arrival in Portland like it was a honeymoon, a perfect situation. “You ever been on a beach? Just chillin’ and drinking a nice … water? Looking out at the sunset?” he asked during his news conference. “That’s what I feel.” And now, his manager says, Whiteside is preparing to define his new start in Portland. The theme, Blair said, will be “pay it forward.” Whiteside on Thursday said this is the most excited he has been about basketball in his life. “It’s not even close,” he said. But his zeal extends beyond the court. Blair said Whiteside has a sense that this is more than a fresh start. It’s an opportunity to change the way people see him. “We’ve talked about this,” said Blair, who grew up in Gastonia, N.C., with Whiteside. “It’s time to pay it forward. Hold the door open for somebody just a little bit longer. Learn the names of the ushers, the janitor.” He started upon his arrival to Portland earlier this week when he visited downtown’s iconic and eclectic Voodoo Doughnuts, handing out treats to people on the streets. He also visited the Japanese Gardens and made a trip to the Nike store. “People are so nice,” Whiteside said. “I heard so many ‘Welcome to Portland’ … they have really embraced me.” Whiteside and Blair were both careful to avoid painting a picture in which Whiteside was unhappy in Miami, or that Miami was unhappy with Whiteside. And former Heat star Alonzo Mourning, who at times counseled Whiteside during his time in Miami, declined an interview Wednesday, saying only, “I wish him nothing but the best.” “I don’t think anything bad happened in Miami,” Whiteside said. “I just feel like this was a better fit … and Miami felt the same way.” Added Blair: “Miami was a good fit; Portland is a better fit.” If there was friction in Miami, Whiteside and Blair said, it was because the Heat started losing more than it was winning. “Look, nobody likes losing,” Blair said. “There’s just a natural frustration going through injuries, going through slumps, and then people start looking for a reason. And it’s the nature of the business that if there’s a problem, somebody has to take the blame.” Whiteside, though, said his attitude was never the problem. “If it was that big of a problem, then I wouldn’t have been there that long,” Whiteside said. Neil Olshey, the Blazers’ top executive, agreed. “And we would have been able to trade for him a while ago,” Olshey said. Olshey said Whiteside was the top free-agent target for the Blazers in 2016, but he re-signed with Miami for four years and $98 million. Since then, the Blazers have tried to acquire him in trades, all while he organically developed friendships with Lillard and CJ McCollum. It is that feeling of being wanted — from the front office down to the star players — that has Whiteside feeling like he is blessed and ready to give back. “He really believes in himself, and if the coaches and teammates believe in him, he thrives,” Blair said. A story Whiteside and Blair often tell is from Whiteside’s youth in North Carolina, when Whiteside figured he was 9 or 10 and was hit by a car. “I was going to get some (Little) Debbie cakes with my sister, and we were crossing the street, but it’s really hilly and you couldn’t see the cars coming,” Whiteside said. His leg was clipped by the sedan — “I’m lucky it wasn’t an F-150 or an SUV” — and he was rushed to the hospital with knee and leg injuries. He also said doctors needed to revive him with defibrillators. “Ever seen in the movies when they rush somebody into the hospital and you see the lights, and they be like, ‘Clear!’ … it was just like that,” Whiteside said. Blair said a traumatic event like that accident sticks with a person, and he thinks it’s why Whiteside has carried himself as a fighter, a survivor. Whiteside doesn’t disagree. “Ever since that day, my mom was like, ‘I knew you were here for a special reason,”’ Whiteside said. “So, everybody knows my path hasn’t been the easiest. But you keep working, and you keep believing and you just stay with it.” Now, Whiteside finds himself again in a place for a special reason. Whether Whiteside thrives in Portland will largely determine where the Blazers sit in the pecking order of the Western Conference elite. Olshey called a “critical” pickup because the Blazers will need him to start at center at least until February while Jusuf Nurkic rehabilitates from a broken left leg. But which Whiteside the Blazers will get is somewhat of an open question. Will it be the player who led the NBA in blocks in 2015-2016 and in rebounding in 2016-2017? Or will it be the player who fell out of the starting lineup last season? Olshey said any doubts he had about pulling the trigger on the trade were put to rest by his phone. “I always can tell when I get great reactions from our players about trades,” Olshey said. “And to a man, the number of texts I got about us acquiring Hassan, and them knowing what that is going to do for them, and the impact he is going to have — gives me a lot of confidence it was the right decision.” By now, the trade is most known for Whiteside’s social media reaction, which featured a giddy Whiteside shouting, “We got shooters! We got shooters!” It was referencing Lillard and McCollum, the Blazers’ sharp-shooting starting backcourt, and it’s a recurring point Whiteside comes back to when expressing his zeal for the trade. “They have two guys you have to guard when they get out of their car in the parking lot,” Whiteside said. “Big-time shooters … and we got two of them. The rarity of that, I mean Golden State is probably the only other team that has two guys who can shoot from that range.” The way Whiteside sees it, he can become an offensive weapon with teams focusing on Lillard and McCollum, and also the way Stotts’ flow offense works, with centers setting a variety of screens and being involved in high-post action. An offensive knock on Whiteside has been his passing. He career average in assists is 0.6 per game. But the last two centers Stotts has coached — Mason Plumlee and Nurkic — both emerged as effective if not exceptional passers in Stotts’ system. Plumlee went from a 0.9 average in Brooklyn and averaged 2.8 his first season in Portland. Nurkic was at 1.3 his last two seasons in Denver and jumped to 3.2 assists last season. Nobody is expecting Whiteside to become a passer like Plumlee or Nurkic, but Blair and Whiteside have been studying and working to develop that area. “As you get older, your mind becomes your biggest asset,” Blair said. “So we’ve been reading and watching more film, and working more on the mental aspect of the game. Knowing different types of handoffs, screen and rolls, and what the opponent wants to take away, and how to counter that. Pick-and-pop with reads … stuff that keeps you in the league for a long time.” Stotts said he will put Whiteside “in a lot of the same situations we put Nurk in,” and Whiteside said he welcomes that. “I love passing,” Whiteside said. “I love looking for the opportunity. The offense they got has so much movement … it’s just a way different thing than just the standard pick and roll, pick and roll, pick and roll. I’ve been looking at the offense a lot, and there’s a reason it was top three in the NBA.” Whiteside said there is more to his offensive game than just lobs off pick and roll and points off rebounds. He can shoot, too. But he also knows his place. “When you are playing with Dame and CJ, pffft … you just do your job,” Blair said. “You do your job and they do theirs. That’s why his excitement is through the roof.” But more than anything for Whiteside, his happiness has come from how he has been welcomed, how he has been shown that he is wanted. Now, he wants to give that back. When asked what he wants people of Portland to know about him, he was quick to answer. “How much I care,” Whiteside said. “A lot of stuff (in Miami), if we did have a problem, it was because we were losing. As a competitor, you always want to win. I felt it was a down year because we didn’t make the playoffs. That does something to you in the offseason, you know? Guys are thinking about it, and you at home watching other teams play. You want to be out there. “So that’s what I want them to know — how much I care about working and getting better,” Whiteside said. “This is a fresh start, and realistically, I think this team is on the verge of doing something really special.”
Thanks for posting that above. It will be interesting to see how many ways Whiteside can be used in the offense. He can go coast-to-coast with the ball, that would be fun to see.
I am always a bit unhappy when I see an article from a quality website copied and pasted over here. I pay for such content and feel the work done by The Athletic is worth paying.
I'll believe it when I see it with Hassan. He looked slow, plundering, and disinterested much of last season. Part of the reason they were losing (as he keeps referencing) was because he was bad and gave up when challenged by Spoelstra. We don't really need any more evidence of Dame's awesome leadership, but it's not a good referendum on the situation when he has to send Whiteside page long texts about how to respect the coach. I think he gets moved for a versatile wing at the deadline once Nurk comes back.
I think there’s this assumption (might not be the right word, maybe anticipation) that once Nurk comes back Whiteside will be dealt. But after thinking about it, I’m not so sure. We just freed ourselves from some awful contracts and I’m not sure Olshey is ready to hamstring himself again. I think he’s learned and evolved as an executive. For example, a guy like Blake Griffin. Is he a good player? Yes. Is his contract awful and would it affect flexibility? Yes. If Portland were to trade Whiteside, I think it would be for another expiring/short term contract. Portland also has Whitesides bird rights. If he really likes it here, maybe he stays. He’ll be 31 next summer and as we’ve seen, the market for centers, especially traditional ones, ain’t great. Olshey has also mentioned his bird rights specifically. He also mentioned wanting to play more “bully ball.” Nurk and Whiteside are both at their most efficient when their minutes are in the 25 range, especially defensively. It would allow them to play more aggressively, knowing foul trouble wouldn’t cripple the team. A lot will depend on Collins, but if he shows he can handle power forward, then I’d be all for keeping Hassan. If they still wanted an upgrade, they have Bazemores expiring (along with other smaller ones) at their disposal, but if they were patient, they could just wait until the summer and sign someone like Gallinari, Millsap, Ibaka, etc without having to give up anything. Rather do that than pay for the back end of Blake or Loves career.
You assume that Whiteside or Nurk would be happy with backup roles. It ain't happening. I can totally see Whiteside leaving for the Clips next summer. I'm on this Whiteside for Porter thing this morning. OPj has a contract that is reasonable and we would extend him next summer after clearing space. Think it really works for both sides once CHI comes to its senses.
1. That’s literally an assumption. 2. I keep seeing Otto Porters name. Why would Chicago get rid of him? He just turned 26 and they’ll have his bird rights. It’s also going to take more than an expiring to get him. I’m not giving up future flexibility (plus whatever other assets we’d have to give up) for the “opportunity” to pay Otto Porter $100M either. If we’re going to make investments like that I want it on true impact players, not guys that grade out as maybe slightly above average.
I know this is a really popular narrative, but I look at his Per 36 minute stats and I just don't see it. This last season he put up his most rebounds ever per 36 in his career. Second highest scoring numbers. 57% shooting. Second highest scoring average. By far the best PER of his career (23.4, which is typically star or super star level). He had his 3rd best defensing rating last year--a 99. That's still 2 better than Nurk's very best. That's how you define "giving up"? I realize stats don't tell the whole story, but geez, it must tell at least some of it. If he really was "slow, plundering and disinterested," how the fuck did put up all those really good numbers in limited minutes? Was he, like, rushing around really hard for 2 minutes in each game, and fucking around the rest of the time? That's not how this stuff normally works, but hell, I didn't watch a lot of Heat games. When I give up, I generally, you know, stop doing things. The numbers clearly don't show any real fall off in, well, anything. I hope he continues to give up in Portland.
I think a different narrative, one which isn't so popular but is probably a lot more likely given the stats, is that much like Denver with Nurkic you had a center with a weird, overbearing personality who had a lot of talent but wasn't being used fully. Probably a lot of the other pieces around him didn't fit, he gave some bad interviews and sounded bad, and the coach (who was trying to develop a lot of youth) wasn't thrilled with the overall everything of his franchise-salary-center. Losses kept coming because the overall talent wasn't there on the team, and it's easy to pin the blame on the guy who is kind of being a dickhead about how he's being used. They wanted to move on with a cheaper center and tossed Whiteside in the bargain bin. One man's trash is another man's treasure, though. That's why bargain bins exist, and that's why Portland sifts through them like my mother-in-law.
That's a great article and makes me hopeful that he can really contribute here. BUT, I heard a lot of denial from everyone, Whiteside, his manager and Olshey. In my experience you can't fix a problem unless you admit there was a problem. To me, it's a problem that a guy with as much talent as he has, did not advance his game a bit over the years; statistically regressed. It's a problem when you are benched in favor of an inexperienced Adebayo. I hope Dame will hold conversations on this subject with him.
Man I sure hope you're right. I only watched them a few times and frankly he looked bored every time. He can put up stats in his sleep, but they sure didn't impact the result on the floor. He chased blocks and rebounds like Camby, while putting his teammates at a disadvantage. We all know how flawed DRTG is, but it is something. And he was a complete black hole after receiving the ball on P&Rs. Let's see if he turns it around, but I'm glad we have Nurk coming back. I know the parallels with Nurk and Whiteside are obvious, but Nurk was only 22 when we got him, while Whiteside is 30. Nurk's immaturity is understandable, Hassan's not so much.
I think I'm biased by his performance in the playoffs last year against Embiid when he got so outclassed every game. https://www.basketball-reference.co...ern-conference-first-round-heat-vs-76ers.html He put up 5/6 in 15 mpg and complained in the media after about how he doesn't want to set screens.
Whiteside was playing through injuries last year. He missed ten games leading up to the playoffs in March with a hip injury and had a couple other issues on top of that that made him miss games earlier in the season. Im not saying he’s innocent, but I also wouldn’t read too much into these performances you’ve highlighted.
Not really sure the narrative is correct here. Miami was 7th in rebounding differential last year, 4th in ORB%, 10th in DRB%, 7th in TRB%. A lot of that had to do with Whiteside, who posted league leading DRB% and TRB%. Portland was 1st in rebounding differential, 1st in OORB%, 9th in DRB%, and 1st in TRB%. We're losing Kanter, Aminu and Harkless who were all good rebounders at their position. Nurk will also be out for half the year, so even if Whiteside is chasing rebounds, that's gonna be his main job. He's also rated quite well by most advanced defensive metrics. I don't look at DRTG, but he's consistently top 10 in DRPM and he was top 4 in that DRAYMOND stat that 538 just developed, although I haven't read too much into the methodology of that. Basically in his sleep he can still impact the game defensively because he's just so big and talented. It's actually his offense that hurt his team the most, Miami was better offensively with Bam over Whiteside, and the numbers bear it out. Even over the years, he's always made their offense worse. I'm hoping he's better here.
