What It Means:

Already ruled out for Saturday's game against the Boston Celtics, Whiteside will miss at least four games as he deals with a bone bruise. When Spoelstra was asked if Whiteside would have to log a full practice before returning, he said that it would just depend but that ideally they'd like to see him get back into the swing of things before he tries to give it a go. In the meantime, Kelly Olynyk, James Johnson and Bam Adebayo will benefit from increased playing time.

Over 77 games, Whiteside is projected to average 15.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.1 blocks across 32.6 minutes the rest of the year.