Minnesota Timberwolves Bargain Basement Bigs – IX: Hassan Whiteside

We’ve been talking about the fact that the Minnesota Timberwolves have a big problem this offseason. No, not some unsolvable quandary. Rather, the team faces a problem with finding and adding big players to their roster for the 2022-23 NBA season.

The challenge is that the Minnesota Timberwolves are not alone in this search for reinforcements to help the roster in the frontcourt. But the reality is that the 2022 NBA Draft is loaded with backcourt players. So the Timberwolves will likely need to vet any center or power forward prospect particularly diligently that they may intend to draft this year.

Of course, there is always the option to explore NBA Free Agency, and that may prove to be the route taken by the front office this offseason.

Utah Jazz center Hassan Whiteside is an NBA free agent who is 33 years old and might be a bit lighter on the Timberwolves’ pursestrings than some of the other options in free agency

Whiteside is coming off a one-year $2.4 million deal with the Utah Jazz. While he performed well enough during the 2021-22 regular season, he diminished significantly in the postseason. Should that be a concern? Perhaps, but even a solid backup who can deliver quality minutes over the long regular season would be a help.

Standing 7-foot-0 and weighing 265-pounds, he has all the size, shape, physicality, and durability to be a significant help for the Timberwolves. He does good boards work and can get blocks, but his offense is fairly limited to shooting in the paint. He is a Steady-Freddie scorer, and he has a knack for getting his share of pesky blocks.

He won’t be the guy off the bench that ignites a sluggish Timberwolves offense. But he could prove to be a great option to get KAT off the floor. That could be all the team needs, but don’t look for much more than that.