One person can stop Hassan Whiteside from becoming the first player in NBA history to go from a minimum salary one season to the max the next:
Kevin Durant.
Whiteside agreed to re-sign with the Heat on a max deal projected to be worth about $99 million over four years. But there’s a contingency in place.
Ethan J. Skolnick of the Miami Herald
New info on Whiteside deal: it's not necessarily a 4 for $98M max. He agreed to some wiggle room if Durant wants to come.
— Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 Reasons Sports (@EthanJSkolnick) July 1, 2016
How much wiggle room? It’ll take a ton.
The Heat meet with Durant on Sunday, but they’re longshots to add him.
Unless Whiteside is willing to accept far less than max, Dwyane Wade would also have to take a discount -- and he doesn’t seem willing to do that. Maybe he would for Durant, especially if Whiteside is also sacrificing.
Even then, the Heat would almost certainly have to dump Goran Dragic and Josh McRoberts. That’s well worth it on their end, but are the Heat so appealing that Durant would still pick them without their quality starting point guard?
The Heat can have an appealing roster. They can have enough cap space to sign Durant. They probably can’t have both.
Which means Whiteside will probably get his max deal and place in history.
