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https://theathletic.com/1246109/201...ng-prediction-before-trail-blazers-open-camp/
On Thursday night, during a series of questions with The Athletic, new Trail Blazers center Hassan Whiteside offered a piece of advice: Keep this interview.
Keep it for proof. Keep it so when he records a triple-double this season — a game with 10 or more points, 10 or more rebounds and (here’s the kicker) 10 or more assists — he can remind us all that he saw the accomplishment coming as early as September.
See, for the past two weeks, Whiteside has been scrimmaging with his new teammates at the Blazers’ practice facility, and the 7-footer who, during his five seasons in Miami led the NBA in rebounding one year, and another year led the league in blocks, says he foresees another facet of his game flourshing under coach Terry Stotts in Portland.
Passing.
“I think I’m going to blossom a lot here,” Whiteside said. “They have so much movement, they have so many different plays and reads, I can probably get a triple-double with assists here. You know, I’ve been getting so many assists and dimes … I’m playing more like a point-center here.”
His enthusiasm and visions of a fresh start were laudable, but at the same time it was hard not to think he was being a bit over the top. After all, in seven NBA seasons, he holds a career average of 0.6 assists. He has never averaged more than one assist over the course of a season, and he has never amassed more than four in 343 career games.
It’s why I chuckled at his answer, and later came back to the triple-double talk, suggesting that surely that was made in jest.
It was not.
“There’s scrimmages we have where I have six, seven assists like that,” Whiteside said, matter-of-factly. “I got Dame (Lillard) and CJ (McCollum) — them guys can shoot. All I have to do is give them the ball for an easy assist. It’s so much … it’s so different. You are going to see. You are going to see. Keep this interview.”
Having a center dramatically improve his assists is nothing new under Stotts. Mason Plumlee averaged 0.9 assists in Brooklyn, then in his first season in Portland jumped to 2.8 assists, and then 4.0 assists the next season in 54 games before being traded. That included a career-high 12 assists in the regular season and consecutive playoff games of seven, nine and 10 assists against the Clippers. And Jusuf Nurkic averaged 1.3 assists his last two seasons in Denver, jumped to 3.2 assists a game last season, helped in part by his first career triple double.
Whether Whiteside has the savvy and skills that Plumlee and Nurkic exhibited remains to be seen, but Stotts in July said he will put Whiteside “in a lot of the same situations” he put Nurkic in. In other words, it will be up to Whiteside to read, react, and if need be, execute a pass.
“I love passing,” Whiteside said back in July. “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, who turned 30 in June, will be the Blazers’ starting center on opening night while Nurkic continues to rehabilitate from a broken leg suffered at the end of March. The team has been hesitant to put a timeline on Nurkic, but top executive Neil Olshey has estimated his return will be around February. What happens with playing time after Nurkic’s return will be one of Stotts’ biggest coaching decisions of the season.
In the meantime, Whiteside — who will make $27 million this season in the final year of his contract — is envisioning big things. And not just with his passing. While Stotts’ system, and the shooting of Lillard and McCollum have him excited, so too does the frontline defense, which will likely include third-year big man Zach Collins starting next to him.
“Zach Collins is an unbelievable shot blocker,” Whiteside said. “I didn’t know he could block shots like that. I can’t imagine me and him being in the paint at the same time. It’s going to be unreal.”
How much of this is wishful thinking and how much is prescient will begin to unfold next week. The Blazers meet Monday for media day and their team dinner, then start practice on Oct. 1. The first preseason game is Oct. 8 against Denver at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum and the regular season opener is Oct. 23 against the Nuggets at the Moda Center.
On Thursday night, during a series of questions with The Athletic, new Trail Blazers center Hassan Whiteside offered a piece of advice: Keep this interview.
Keep it for proof. Keep it so when he records a triple-double this season — a game with 10 or more points, 10 or more rebounds and (here’s the kicker) 10 or more assists — he can remind us all that he saw the accomplishment coming as early as September.
See, for the past two weeks, Whiteside has been scrimmaging with his new teammates at the Blazers’ practice facility, and the 7-footer who, during his five seasons in Miami led the NBA in rebounding one year, and another year led the league in blocks, says he foresees another facet of his game flourshing under coach Terry Stotts in Portland.
Passing.
“I think I’m going to blossom a lot here,” Whiteside said. “They have so much movement, they have so many different plays and reads, I can probably get a triple-double with assists here. You know, I’ve been getting so many assists and dimes … I’m playing more like a point-center here.”
His enthusiasm and visions of a fresh start were laudable, but at the same time it was hard not to think he was being a bit over the top. After all, in seven NBA seasons, he holds a career average of 0.6 assists. He has never averaged more than one assist over the course of a season, and he has never amassed more than four in 343 career games.
It’s why I chuckled at his answer, and later came back to the triple-double talk, suggesting that surely that was made in jest.
It was not.
“There’s scrimmages we have where I have six, seven assists like that,” Whiteside said, matter-of-factly. “I got Dame (Lillard) and CJ (McCollum) — them guys can shoot. All I have to do is give them the ball for an easy assist. It’s so much … it’s so different. You are going to see. You are going to see. Keep this interview.”
Having a center dramatically improve his assists is nothing new under Stotts. Mason Plumlee averaged 0.9 assists in Brooklyn, then in his first season in Portland jumped to 2.8 assists, and then 4.0 assists the next season in 54 games before being traded. That included a career-high 12 assists in the regular season and consecutive playoff games of seven, nine and 10 assists against the Clippers. And Jusuf Nurkic averaged 1.3 assists his last two seasons in Denver, jumped to 3.2 assists a game last season, helped in part by his first career triple double.
Whether Whiteside has the savvy and skills that Plumlee and Nurkic exhibited remains to be seen, but Stotts in July said he will put Whiteside “in a lot of the same situations” he put Nurkic in. In other words, it will be up to Whiteside to read, react, and if need be, execute a pass.
“I love passing,” Whiteside said back in July. “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, who turned 30 in June, will be the Blazers’ starting center on opening night while Nurkic continues to rehabilitate from a broken leg suffered at the end of March. The team has been hesitant to put a timeline on Nurkic, but top executive Neil Olshey has estimated his return will be around February. What happens with playing time after Nurkic’s return will be one of Stotts’ biggest coaching decisions of the season.
In the meantime, Whiteside — who will make $27 million this season in the final year of his contract — is envisioning big things. And not just with his passing. While Stotts’ system, and the shooting of Lillard and McCollum have him excited, so too does the frontline defense, which will likely include third-year big man Zach Collins starting next to him.
“Zach Collins is an unbelievable shot blocker,” Whiteside said. “I didn’t know he could block shots like that. I can’t imagine me and him being in the paint at the same time. It’s going to be unreal.”
How much of this is wishful thinking and how much is prescient will begin to unfold next week. The Blazers meet Monday for media day and their team dinner, then start practice on Oct. 1. The first preseason game is Oct. 8 against Denver at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum and the regular season opener is Oct. 23 against the Nuggets at the Moda Center.
