He fell off the map, instead of staying in the D-League, he decided to go to play in China. But not the same league that Marbury or Brooks played in, he went to go play in China's minor league. He also made a stop in Lebanon to play in 3 games.
Shoulda, coulda.... sure he Should have got minutes over Macklin, or supplanted Macklin's minutes at the end of the season... but he didn't... and that's the problem.... thats the coaches decision so I can't tell you exactly why. Only thing I can tell you is why, from a coaching standpoint, these are the things that might be the case. Are the coaches crazy????.... who knows, but probably not. Are 29 other NBA teams with multides of high paid scouts crazy for passing on him???.... some of them might be crazy, but I find it hard to believe all 30 of them have been this crazy for THREE YEARS if this guy was half the player some folks wish he was just because he's tall. He looked significantly better in the short stint he had with RGV at the end of last season, but I still saw some of the same things from before a few years ago when people were so passionate about this guy being the next Kevin Garnett. He can block shots and he's tall, but he often looks lost on both ends of the court, he struggles to run the floor, struggles to set good screens, and is impossible to hide on the offensive end. Maybe you see something that I dont, but thats the only explanation I can give you based on what I've seen on the basketball court (forget the immaturity issues) that backs up why all 30 NBA teams have gone out of their way to avoid giving this guy a legit shot in a rotation.
I do not think that Whiteside is the next Garnett. I do think that Whiteside is a good or better and would be just as effective as most of the career backup 5's currently playing in the NBA. I think he's worth taking a one year minimum salary flyer on. And I'd rather try him for a one year minimum salary deal than pay more money for guys like Kame Kwame, Dally, Jordan Hill, Mahinmi, Joel Anthony, and a whole pile of other pedestrian bigs.
Once again, where is this coming from? Where did you hear this is the case? I will accept if out is fact. I know he's not a bright bulb and I know he doesn't apply himself mentally. Buy malcontent? What do you know here that I don't? Where is this coming from?
That was from years ago before the draft before you joined the board. Yes, people here really did make that comparison. As for giving him a contract... he certainly wouldn't be my first pick out there to give a contract to, even on a non-guaranteed deal, but some team might give him a shot. I just think there are other teams where a long-shot project makes more sense than in Houston. They need to make much better use of their limited 15 roster spots. Oh, and the Rockets aren't paying money to pedestrian backup centers.... they are paying 8.3 mil a year to Omer Asik & the league minimum to Greg Smith & potentially Marcus Camby on a vet. min contract.... Greg Smith, Camby, or simply small ball would be miles better than having to rely on Whiteside for anthing more than to look bigger coming off the bus.
If we sign Camby and trade Asik, Camby is a one-year solution. Greg Smith will never be a rim protector or big rebounder. Its just not in his DNA. In my opinion trading Asik and relying on Camby to backup Dwight is risky because of Camby's age and health history.
Multi-year investment in the development of Hassan Whiteside???? Thinking the Rockets will actually offer him a one-year deal non-guaranteed is crazy enough, but you want a multi-year investment to groom him for the future.... Wow.
Wow. You got me. How embarrassed I really am for saying I didn't understand the animosity Morey got for not drafting him over Patrick Patterson and was still getting for signing Dorsey over him when he had all of this going for him- A. Against "Elite" college competition at Marshall university was scoring a whopping total of 13 points a game. B. Couldn't break through in SEVEN D-League stints (I guess #8 was the lucky number) C. Couldn't make it in the Lebanese basketball league D. Couldn't make it back in Summer League without getting technicals and getting benched for mouthing off. Shame on me for writing off this CANT MISS prospect that YOU predicted was going to all the sudden turn into a triple/double NBA stud. Because YOU called that, and YOU knew it was only a matter of time before he turned it on and became a world beater. Kudos for Whiteside for figuring out how to play the game of basketball. I watched him closely around the draft and after with the Kings, The Vipers, etc. trying to figure out what was wrong with him. My answer to that was simple... He wasn't really a basketball player at the time, and had major maturity issues. Something clicked with the kid in China and now in Miami, and good for him. Now let's see how he handles the success. Still.... I stick by Morey for NOT drafting him, and NOT taking multiple flyers on him. He had a good chance to show something in RGV a few years ago, and should have easily won minutes of Tim Olbrecht. It is what it is.... PLEASE LET THE WHITESIDE DREAM GO.
So now all of the thousands of predictions BBHollic made are now validated because Hassan Whiteside had a great game in the NBA after 5 years of floating around the world (literally), and 8 D-League stints? How's that Ilyasova, Derrick Williams, Rubio, Jason Smith, etc. etc. etc. trade coming? Why is Canaan, D-Mo, Jones, Capela, etc. still on the roster? I thought they were "trade bait". All hail the prophet Jopatmc. All of his predictions will come true (at some point). Oh and he's an insider... never forget that.
As long as people only point out the ones that are wrong, there is nothing wrong with him pointing out the other side. Folks always want to hammer away at predictions that are incorrect, and label folks.....which creates a narrative which is wrong in itself. He was right here, spot on in fact. Give him credit.. DD