3. Heat’s Best Two-Way Player?
Are the Heat still Dwyane Wade’s team? Of course. That will always be the case until Wade calls it quits. He is the face of the franchise and led the team to its first championship in dramatic fashion.
However, who really is the Heat’s best player?
Wade—with Bosh currently sidelined—is Miami’s leading scorer. He is pacing the team with 21.2 points per game on an effective .474 field goal percentage.
While Wade ranks 18th in PER with a 21.85 rating, Whiteside blows him out of the water in that department. Though Hassan is not the scorer that Wade is, Wade is also not the defender that Whiteside is. Nor can Dwyane impact a game the way Whiteside can on both ends of the court.
Heat faithful will argue that Wade is still the Heat’s best player, but the advanced metrics point toward Whiteside laying claim to that honor.
Next: Contributions to the Heat’s Defense
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