After coming off a disappointing season, Hassan Whiteside was reportedly on the trade block this summer.

According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, they attempted to ship the big man but found no suitors for his huge contract.

The veteran is due to earn $52.5 million over the next two years and the Heat explored the market in the hope of getting that off their books.

But Miami president Pat Riley has quashed these reports and claims that they haven't looked to offload the center.

Denial

In a conference call with media members, he said that Whiteside "has not been shopped all over the league," via the Miami Herald.

Riley acknowledges that dumping the 29-year-old's salary on another team would mean they'll have to give up young players and future draft picks in return, which they're not willing to do.

The likes of Bam Adebayo, Josh Richardson or Justise Winslow will certainly have been of interest to other teams.

"If you want to shed salary, you got to go into your draft picks and you've got to go into your young players," Riley said.

"We have had opportunities this summer to do that a lot but it wasn't worth getting rid of our young assets or the two picks we have coming up.

"So we decided to stand pat with the team that we have and use the resources we have in the draft and the money that we have to make this team better."

By these comments, it would appear that they did certainly explore a trade for Whiteside but were unable to find the right deal to do it.

This is surely Riley's way of accepting that the seven-footer will be staying in South Beach and putting a positive spin on things to keep him happy.

The franchise will now have to plan for a future with Whiteside even if they're not totally all-in on the big.

Miami has been largely inactive during this offseason as they've only managed to re-sign Wayne Ellington and bring back the star of their Summer League campaign, Derrick Jones Jr.

They're also hoping that Dwyane Wade postpones retirement and plays on for another year.

Riley is hopeful that the three-time champion will make a decision about his future by mid-August.

As things stand, the Heat will be going into the new season with pretty much the same roster as last year and they could be in danger of being left behind by their rivals in the east.

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