Heat center Hassan Whiteside has made it clear he wasn't happy with his role in Miami last season, but apparently he had a productive meeting with the organization earlier this offseason and he's ready to move on.
Whiteside told reporters he met with team president Pat Riley and head coach Erik Spoelstra for nearly four hours during the summer and the meeting was productive.
"We had a great talk," Whiteside told reporters, via the Sun Sentinel. "I just think it's trust on both sides. I think that's the biggest thing ... It was about a four-hour meeting. It was a lot about life. It was two hours basketball, two hours life. It was a good meeting."
The center went on to say he "wasn't healthy" last year but now that he has had time to recover, he is confident his production and playing time will increase.
"I think the biggest thing is I just want to be out there,” Whiteside added. “It wasn’t about nothing else. I just wanted to be out there as much as possible. I think [I’ll play more] because I’ll be healthy. Last year, I wasn’t healthy.
"I was in and out of the rotation with injuries. Just coming back healthy. Coming back from a bone bruise, it takes months to heal."
Whiteside is coming off a 2017-18 season in which he averaged 14 points and 11.4 rebounds, which was down from his 17 points and 14.1 rebounds in 2016-17.
