2016 NBA free agents: Al Jefferson could be Heat’s Plan B

Hassan Whiteside’s upcoming free agency is unpredictable, and the Heat can’t possibly know if they’ll be able to bring him back. That’s the goal, Pat Riley says, but other teams are going to hit Whiteside with enticing offers as soon as he becomes available July 1.

If Miami loses Whiteside, there is no obvious next choice around which the team can build. At that point, the Heat would be in the market for a short-term starting center that doesn’t severely impair their free agency ambitions in 2017. That likely eliminates someone like Dwight Howard, who should be looking for a long-range deal.

One good option might be Charlotte’s Al Jefferson. He’s 31 and made $13.8 million last season, but missed 52 games over the past two seasons. If he’s confident that he can come back healthy and have a resurgence, he could help himself on a one-year deal (probably with a second-year player option) to reestablish his market value heading into summer 2017.

The last time he was healthy, the 2013-14 season, he averaged 21.8 points and 10.8 rebounds for the Hornets. However, over the past two years he put up 14.7 and 7.6.