Hassan Whiteside signs one-year deal with Kings

FILE –Hassan Whiteside #21 of the Portland Trail Blazers goes up for a shot against the Memphis Grizzlies during the first quarter in the Western Conference play-in game one on August 15, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images/AFP

Hassan Whiteside apparently is headed back to the place where his NBA career began.

The free agent center reached a one-year agreement with the Sacramento Kings, ESPN and NBC Sports California reported Wednesday. Per NBC Sports California, Whiteside will make the veterans’ minimum salary in the 2020-21 season.

Whiteside, 31, was selected by the Kings in the second round of the 2010 draft, and he played 19 games over two seasons in Sacramento, averaging 1.5 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.

After spending two years abroad playing in Lebanon and China, Whiteside returned to the United States, where he played five years with the Miami Heat prior to spending last season with the Portland Trail Blazers.

Whiteside led the NBA in 2019-20 with an average of 2.9 blocked shots per game and ranked third with a rate of 13.5 rebounds per game. He put up 15.5 points a game.

In 2015-16, Whiteside topped the league with a career-best 3.7 blocks per game, and the following season he was the NBA rebounding champion at 14.1 boards per game while also putting up a career-best 17 points per game.

Over 410 career games (320 starts), Whiteside has averaged 13.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.4 blocks.

His arrival comes a day after the Kings declined to match an offer sheet for restricted free agent guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, who landed a reported four-year, $72 million contract with the Atlanta Hawks.