MIAMI _ This time feels different. It just does.
Perhaps it is because the Miami Heat showed through dual injury absences that they can win without Hassan Whiteside. Perhaps it is because of the equal-opportunity approach taken by coach Erik Spoelstra with his team's highest-price player.
But a trade of Whiteside, once seemingly considered a franchise centerpiece, no longer appears out of the realm, perhaps as soon as by the Feb. 8 NBA trading deadline.
No, neither Bam Adebayo nor Kelly Olynyk is Whiteside. Arguably, not even combined.
But when the Heat went big in the offseason in the draft, with Adebayo at No. 14, and in free agency, with Olynyk at $50 million over four years, the dynamic changed.
It no longer is Whiteside as a featured component, with someone else _ in last season's case, Willie Reed _ picking up the scraps.
This could be a juncture where a deal would be embraced by both sides. Actually, that's probably too strong a phrasing. Whiteside likes it in Miami, a lot. And the Heat rarely move on from developmental projects by choice.
The answer to two questions, both of which assuredly would go publicly unanswered, would help clarify:
Do the Miami Heat view Hassan Whiteside as a franchise cornerstone?
And is Whiteside content with how he currently is being utilized, averaging 26 minutes a game to Olynyk's 24 and Adebayo's 20?
Anything short of "yes" and "yes" means having to consider an alternate reality.
So we start here, with Whiteside's salary at $23.8 million this season, with two more seasons on his contract, including a player option for 2019-20.
There are several intriguing salary matches.
