Whiteside finding his outer limits

ORLANDO – Thinking outside the box has been a staple of Erik Spoelstra’s stewardship of the Heat. Stepping out of the box, however, is somewhat of a different story when it comes to center Hassan Whiteside.

In the wake of Whiteside attempting four shots from 12 feet or beyond during Thursday’s preseason loss to the Nets, Spoelstra discussed Saturday the fine line with his 7-foot center attempting to score from distance.

“When it’s in the context of the offense and the flow and it’s the right shot, he’s proven that he has good touch from out there,” the Heat coach said in advance Saturday’s exhibition against the Magic. “We’re not designing plays early in the clock to get him that look. We still want him to be powerful and dominant in the paint. That opens up so much more for us. But he showed it the other night, he’s got a good touch.” Whiteside shot 3 of 4 on his midrange jumpers against the Nets, converting from 16, 14 and 12 feet, missing from 14.

“I just kind of look at how they’re guarding me,” Whiteside said on the decision whether to shoot. “I shoot all the time. I practice on my game all around, shooting threes, shooting everything. So if I’m ever in that situation, I’m comfortable.”

To a degree. While Whiteside shot .696 at the rim last season and .431 in the paint outside of the restricted area, he shot just .375 on midrange shots.

Spoelstra said such attempts have to come within the framework of the Heat’s post-up offense.

“The post-ups, it really has become five-man actions to get him open where he’s effective in the paint, to be able to deliver passes with timing, to be able to screen for him,” Spoelstra said. “And then he has to make the right decisions if he catches it off the block. We’ll get better at it.”

Whiteside said what there can’t be is hesitation.

“Normally when I pause on ’em, I normally miss it,” he said. “But when I just shoot it, man, I normally make it. When I just shoot and not even think about it, I normally make it.” in an NBA training camp, he is eligible to be designated as that team’s “affiliate player” for the developmental league if he’s cut.

The Heat’s — and most NBA teams’ — preseason is 21 days this season, with Friday the 11th day. That means if the Heat now waive a player such as Erik McCree, he would still qualify as a Heat G League affiliate assignee to the Sioux Falls Skyforce even if he were to be signed by another NBA team during the preseason and subsequently be released.

Such maneuvering allows teams to capitalize on the 20-player offseason roster limit while also maximizing the ability utilize four possible affiliate spots for their team in the G League.

The Heat utilized such strategy last year, when they signed free-agent center Vashil Fernandez on Oct. 17, 2016, waiving forward Stefan Jankovic, and then signed free-agent guard Luis Montero the following day, waiving center Keith Benson. All four of those players then moved on to the Skyforce.

The players on the Heat preseason roster eligible to be moved on to Sioux Falls if released are McCree, Derrick Walton Jr., Matt Williams and Larry Drew II.

Drew would not count as an affiliate player but rather a returning player to the Skyforce because he played last season for Sioux Falls. Walton has signed a two-way contract and would not count against the Heat’s final 15-player NBA roster limit.

There is a limit of four affiliate assignments per NBA team to the G League, which leaves open the possibility of the addition of three more affiliate players to the Heat preseason roster, should Williams receive the Heat’s second and final two-way contract.