Hassan Whiteside Excited to Play Inside Blazers’ Offense

Newcomer Hassan Whiteside is tasked with holding down the post until Jusuf Nurkic returns to the Trail Blazers’ lineup. Regardless of his reputation as defense-first center, Whiteside expressed optimism in regards to his potential production on offense in a conversation with The Athletic’s Jason Quick.

Whiteside, who averaged 0.8 assists per game last season with the Heat, explained that he is a threat to occasionally post double-digit assist totals in Portland.

“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.”

Along with that prediction, Whiteside made it clear that he is a huge fan of coach Terry Stotts’ free-flowing offense.

“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.”

Regardless of who is doing the passing, Whiteside has the potential to bounce back from a less-than-ideal 2018-19 campaign with feature role inside the Blazers’ scheme.

You can read Quick’s full story at The Athletic (subscription required).