Hassan Whiteside
Per Game Stats: 6.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks per game on 54.2 percent from the field, 100 percent from 3, and 50.0 percent from the free throw line
Advanced Metrics: 56.4 true shooting percentage, -1.7 on-off swing, 14.2 usage percentage
The Hassan Whiteside that the Portland Trail Blazers got from October to March didn’t quite look the part in Orlando. Part of me wonders if he deserves the benefit of the doubt, given the hip injury that rendered him an unhealthy scratch for a few games in bubble play.
Whiteside had his moments; the Portland Trail Blazers don’t even force a Play-In without his unsung 16-point performance against Brooklyn. But for the most part, Florida continued to be somewhat of a house of horrors for him. My theory is that it was a mixture of things: to be relegated to the bench after putting up the best numbers of his career couldn’t have boded well.
That hip didn’t seem right. At one point in the series, part of me wondered … if you put a piece of paper on the ground under him, could he jump over it? Then, there was the air ball(?) shot in Game 2, a lowlight that effectively eliminates a few of his best highlights.
It appeared, in theory, that this would be the perfect series for him, since the Anthony Davis / JaVale McGee front line granted him and Nurkic a chance to play some 2000s, two-big ball.
It didn’t quite work out that way. He was predictably excellent at protecting the rim, but there was a stretch in Game Five when Davis continually stretched the Blazers’ two-big lineup to its limits with buckets from the right corner, en route to 43 points.
I’d argue that contributed to costing the Blazers the game. Whiteside just didn’t have the speed or fire in him to get out there and chase him along the perimeter, and he couldn’t offset it offensively. And, that dislocated finger couldn’t have helped. (Where have I read that before?)
Positively speaking, there was a lot to like about his individual regular season. The new cap space cuts will make it tough to retain him, assuming he even wants to defer as a second unit big. Most fans will be critical of his play as a whole. He was productive and effective for the better part of this year. It just so happens he wasn’t quite up to the challenge in the postseason.
Grade: C