One of the biggest debates around the association right now is the man who set the NBA on fire last year, Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside.

Whiteside, who is averaging 12.7 points, 10.7 rebounds, and an even 4 blocks a game, has became a force on the defensive end and a dunking machine on the offensive end, leading to a big debate about his current contract situation.

The Heat signed Whiteside to a two-year $1.7 million contract during the 2014-2015 season after he averaged 22 points, 15.7 rebounds, and 5.3 blocks on 85% shooting for the Iowa Energy of the NBA’s Development League, and Whiteside carried some of the dominance to the NBA.

With Whiteside continuing to dominate the NBA, many people are raising the debate if he is worthy of a maximum contract this Summer. We have the answers for you right here.

While his offensive game is still raw, Whiteside has a lot to improve on. His 61 dunks on the season are second in the league only to DeAndre Jordan, and his blocking is just on a whole different level.

Whiteside has a total of 104 blocks this season, which is way ahead of the rest of the NBA, as DeAndre Jordan isn’t even at 70 blocks yet on the season. His defensive rating of 91.3 is second in the NBA, only to Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard, who was the NBA’s defensive player of the year last year.

In addition to the elite defense, Whiteside is top ten in terms of offensive efficiency, and he owns the second highest field goal percentage in the association, and if we use the win shares metric per 48 minutes, Whiteside ranks 8th in the NBA.

At the end of this all, Whiteside will be payed by any NBA team this Summer a lot of money. The Miami Heat meet our projections to have the cap space necessary to sign him, but Whiteside is a guy you can anchor your defense on, and a guy your guards can lob the ball to an expect a massive slam.

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