Miami has signed center Hassan Whiteside on a four year, $98 million deal and has a meeting with Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Kevin Durant Sunday. “I am not ready for there to be a ninth”.
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The NBA’s free agency period starts Friday and the fate of the face of The Miami Heat, star player Dwyane Wade, hangs in the balance. The 2010 second round draft pick had stumbled from the D-league to far-flung leagues in China and Lebanon before the Heat gave him a chance in 2014. Whenever Wade is a free agent, he always uses the Bulls as leverage to get what he wants from the Heat.
The Bulls pursuit of Wade seemingly indicates that the front office is not clear on the direction that they want to take the team. He averaged 14.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and 3.7 blocks, which are all career-highs and led the league in blocks with 269 last season, according to Fox Sports. There was even talk of him leaving the Heat if they didn’t offer the max. According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald “Whiteside has received interest from a bunch of teams, but to this point, he has agreed to meet with only two besides Miami: Dallas and Portland”.
With Nicolas Batum reportedly agreeing on a 5-year contract with the Charlotte Hornets the Mavericks have now missed out on two of their three primary targets in the early days of free agency. Mavericks fans didn’t particular care for the perceived special attention Wade received – and extra free throws he attempted – at their favorite team’s expense.
Miami is awaiting its meeting with Durant on Sunday in the Hamptons outside NY, where president Pat Riley and owner Micky Arison will make a presentation to Durant.
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Kevin Durant met with the Los Angeles Clippers and was apparently “Blown Away” by the presentation. But is this just a ploy by the player who was paid $20 million last season by the Heat?
