Facing a June deadline for his decision, Whiteside spoke candidly with the South Florida Sun Sentinel when the question was presented in advance of the Heat's season finale Wednesday night at
Barclays Center against the
Brooklyn Nets.
"You definitely want to have the money," he said. "But you also want to play."
Whiteside has been reduced to a reserve role since missing three games in late February and early March with a strained left hip. He is averaging 23.3 minutes per game, the fewest in his five seasons with the Heat, down from a high of 32.6 in 2016-17.
It's going to be an interesting summer," he said.
Should Whiteside opt out, the Heat would still lack the salary-cap resources to make an offseason splash in free agency. The only path to such an eventuality would be if Goran Dragic also opts out of his $19.2 million player option for next season, or if the Heat were able to offload salaries in trades.
This summer, however, will be flush with cap cash elsewhere around the league, with teams having hoarded such space for a free-agency class expected to include Kevin Durant,
Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving and several other All-Star talents.
It was during such a cap-rich offseason in 2016 that Whiteside reached his four-year, $98 million agreement with the Heat in the opening hours of free agency, with the Heat competing against overtures from the
Dallas Mavericks and
Portland Trail Blazers, among others.
"I think I'm a little more seasoned to the process than I was," the 7-foot shot-blocking center said. "When I re-signed with the Heat, it was more of an impulse. I made a decision of re-signing with the Heat. I've got to live with it."
A year after Whiteside signed his contract, the Heat selected center Bam Adebayo in the first round of the 2017
NBA draft and a week later signed 7-foot Kelly Olynyk to a four-year contract in free agency.
Those two players have received the bulk of the playing time in the Heat rotation during the playoff push that came up short with Wednesday's elimination from postseason contention. Over the past two months, Whiteside's playing time was limited to five minutes in two games and fewer than 20 in 10.
"It's a lot of money," Whiteside said of what he would leave on the table by opting out, "but if I played the minutes I want to play, I would be putting up what the other guys I would be put in the category with, where I would make more money. If I'm playing 30-plus minutes a game, I would make more money."
Whiteside, who turns 30 on June 13, said he appreciates the balancing act.
"It's definitely getting in the right situation," he said. "You definitely want to have the money, but you don't want to lose money and get in a situation you don’t want to be in."
That said, Whiteside said it also has been an honor being part of
Dwyane Wade's retirement season.
"If somebody would have told me in middle school, I'd be playing with D-Wade on his last day in the NBA, I would have never believed it," he said.
. Damn seeing your favs retire is actually some stressful shyt
.
I'm happy that he retired with grace. Wade need to take Haslem with him. I'm sick and tired of watching Haslem sitting on the bench while collecting a couple mill without doing shyt. A waste of a roster spot that could have been given to a reliable player. 
