Report: Heat trading Whiteside to Blazers for Harkless, Leonard
The Miami Heat have agreed to trade center Hassan Whiteside to the Portland Trail Blazers for Moe Harkless and Meyers Leonard, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Portland gets a center to compensate for the absence of Jusuf Nurkic, who is shelved indefinitely after suffering compound fractures to his left tibia and fibula in March. The 30-year-old Whiteside averaged 14.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game over his five seasons in Miami. He is set to earn $27 million in the final year of his current contract.
Harkless, 26, is also on an expiring contract which is valued at $11 million. He averaged 7.7 points and 3.8 rebounds in 23.6 minutes per game last season.
Leonard, who was the Trail Blazers' longest-tenured player along with fellow 2012 lottery pick Damian Lillard, has been largely unable to establish himself as a major contributor. Through seven seasons, the former No. 11 selection has averaged 5.6 points and 3.7 rebounds in 15.5 minutes per game - though he has shot 38.5 percent on 3-pointers for his career. He'll earn $11.3 million in the final year of his contract.
The Heat find themselves immersed in trade talks as they attempt to navigate a tricky salary situation to land four-time All-Star Jimmy Butler in a sign-and-trade deal with the Philadelphia 76ers.