Hassan Whiteside may be too expensive for the Portland Trail Blazers to bring back in the recently announced free agency period in October of this year. With the chance of a reduced salary cap, the lack of cap space, and then only having the mid-level exception to use, it’s probably the right idea to let Whiteside walk.
Fans will miss his shot-blocking and rebounding, but the Blazers’ inability to even get close to his previous yearly salary of $27 million, probably means he is gone. He was destined to be a backup behind Jusuf Nurkic anyway, so even paying him $15 million a year would be a waste.