5 Cavs potential backup C options – #5: Hassan Whiteside
Now I know what some of you are saying about this option, “Hassan Whiteside is lazy and we don’t want that in our team’s locker room.” My response to that is simply that if a team is willing to hold him accountable for any bouts of laziness or perceived pouting then things would be okay. He is a fairly productive player when given the opportunity and is truly better than what a lot of people think in my opinion.
Whiteside is fresh off a season with the Utah Jazz in which he appeared in 65 games, starting 8 of them and provided 8.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game. He is among the most efficient bigs in the league at what he does and it showed as he completed 65.2% of his field goal attempts this season which ranked 9th in the league among players who appeared in at least 50 games this past year.
Additionally for those of you who don’t think he’s that impactful on the court, take this into account. He had the 5th-best net rating in the NBA among players with at least 50 games played at 10.1 behind the likes of Jayson Tatum, George Hill, Jae Crowder and Stephen Curry, per NBA.com. He might actually be the best rim protector available.
At 33 years old, he could provide a proven option at the backup 5 that’s capable of keeping Mobley and Allen fresh. He’d give you everything you need out of the backup 5 whether that be rim-rolling, putback opportunities, shot blocking, rim deterrence. It all comes down to value and Whiteside would be a tremendous value addition.
He made just $2.4 million this past season and could probably be had for a bit more next season.