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Heat's Hassan Whiteside opting into $27.1M option

By Alex Butler
Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside averaged 12.3 points per game in 72 contests during his 2018-2019 campaign. He is a free agent next off-season. Photo by Tannen Maury/EPA-EFE
Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside averaged 12.3 points per game in 72 contests during his 2018-2019 campaign. He is a free agent next off-season. Photo by Tannen Maury/EPA-EFE

June 21 (UPI) -- Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside is opting into the final year of his contract.

Sources informed the Miami Herald and ESPN of the move Friday. Whiteside will have a salary of nearly $27.1 million in 2019-2020. Heat president Pat Riley told reporters Thursday that he has not heard a trade request from Whiteside.

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The 7-footer averaged 12.3 points, 11.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game in 72 contests for the Heat last season.

Whiteside, 30, averaged 14 points and 11.4 rebounds in 54 games in 2017-2018. He posted 17 points and a league-high 14.1 rebounds per game during his 2016-2017 campaign. The second round pick in the 2010 NBA Draft began his career with the Sacramento Kings. He joined the Heat in 2014 after multiple stints in the G-League.

Whiteside signed a four-year, $98 million contract with the Heat in 2016. The Heat selected former Kentucky sharpshooter Tyler Herro with the No. 13 overall pick in Thursday's 2019 NBA Draft. Miami also picked up former Stanford forward KZ Okpala with the No. 32 overall selection.

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