Awesome! Shanghai team reportedly has another major signing! This is the NBA block leader.

Wow, a star arrival.

Domestic media insiders reveal:Shanghai team is very likely to offer "White Side" Whiteside a contract.

Notably, Whiteside previously participated in warm-up games with Shanghai as a trial foreign player. In the 70-67 win over the Japanese team Yokohama Pirates, he played 16 minutes, shooting 5 of 8 and scoring 13 points, along with grabbing a team-high 7 rebounds.

Actually, during the trial period, Shanghai team was not satisfied with Whiteside’s performance and initially had no plans to sign him. However, due to the late start of the new CBA season (December 12), making it difficult to find a better big foreign player, they are now considering continuing cooperation.

It is worth mentioning that Whiteside had previously played in China long ago, but in the NBL league. In the 12-13 season, he played for Sichuan Blue Whales, averaging 20.6 points, 14.8 rebounds, and 4.1 blocks per game, leading the team to its first championship. In the 13-14 season, he played for Jiangsu Tongxi, averaging 29.6 points, 16.4 rebounds, and 4.3 blocks, guiding the team to the finals.

As for Whiteside’s NBA career, it was also quite remarkable. Despite being labeled a "stat padding" player, over 12 years he earned a total salary of $105 million, playing for the Kings, Heat, Blazers, and Jazz. He averaged 12.6 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks in the regular season, and 7.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2 blocks in the playoffs.

Throughout his NBA career, Whiteside was selected once for the All-Defensive Second Team (2015-16), crowned rebounding champion once (2016-17), and led the league in blocks twice (2015-16 and 2019-20), among other honors.

But now that Whiteside is in the CBA, whether he can make an impact is highly uncertain. After all, he is already 36 years old this year and has been away from professional leagues for a long time. If Shanghai views him simply as a rim protector and rebounder backup center for Wang Zhelin, that might be reasonable.

Shanghai’s roster for the new season is quite luxurious, with the main lineup as follows:

Guo Goodwin, Fogg, Li Tianrong, and Cui Xiaolong as guards;

Zhang Zhenlin, Li Hongquan, and Liu Zheng as forwards;

Inside players include Wang Zhelin, Lofton, Whiteside, and Yan Pengfei.