This story appears in ESPN The Magazine's March 2 Analytics Issue. Subscribe today!

WE'RE JUST 25 GAMES into the era of Hassan Whiteside, a former second-rounder who bounced around Iowa, Lebanon and China before Miami took a flier on him. And damn if it isn't going well -- to the tune of the NBA's second-best PER. We asked a scout to assess his game, then gave the big man (and Insiders) the final say.

HASSAN WHITESIDE

HEAT C Height 7-0 Weight 265

PPG 9.8

RPG 8.3

BPG 2.5

PER 28.6

THE SCOUT

He's always around the ball; he rebounds extremely well in a crowd. If he's within five feet of the ball, he'll get it.1 Even at 6-foot-11, he has really quick feet, allowing the defense to switch on pick-and-rolls.2 He's an explosive leaper and has extremely long arms, making him an elite shot blocker.3 He's just a ridiculous weakside defender.4 But on offense, he keeps it simple. He has a jump hook on the right block, but everything else is a dunk.5 He's terrible at the line and isn't a 3-point shooter. And he can't pick and pop.6 But he's really good on the offensive glass.7 He's still immature, though, and can get rattled.8

1 Tom Haberstroh, NBA Insider

Agree. According to SportVU player-tracking data, Whiteside averages a league-high 23.9 rebound chances [being within 3.5 feet of a rebound] per 36 minutes. He's always near the live ball.

2 Hassan Whiteside

First of all, I'm a 7-footer. Actually 7-foot and a half inch. And yeah, I always thought I was mobile for my height.

3 Jeff Goodman, ESPN Insider

Whiteside has always been a big-time shot blocker, but it's his timing that's better now than I can ever recall. That's an area of his game that has really improved over the past few years.­

4 Whiteside

That's the easiest. When there's a man already guarding, they can't see you coming. So it's a lot harder for them to pump-fake and do other stuff when there's already a guy in front of them.

5 Amin Elhassan, NBA Insider, ex-NBA scout

Agree wholeheartedly. He's either turning over his left shoulder for the jump hook or he's throwing it down. Everything is around the rim.

6 Goodman

Free throws aren't a strength [55 FT%], but he's more skilled on offense than people realize. Still, that's not where the Heat need him the most. They need him to rebound, protect the paint and finish under the basket.

7 Haberstroh

True. He's collected 16.8 percent of available offensive rebounds while on the floor, which is more than teammates Chris Andersen [7.0], Chris Bosh [3.8] and Josh McRoberts [3.0] combined. With those go-go-gadget arms [7-7 wingspan], he can be out of the paint and still pick the ball off the rim.

8 Elhassan

Listen, I was the guy who went on national radio and said the reason Whiteside was out of the league was that he was a jackass. He said in his predraft interview that he didn't need to work on anything! So believe me when I say he's vastly improved his maturity level since 2010, but he's still far from a finished product -- both skillswise and mentally.

The Next D12?

Here's one truth: Dwight Howard, when healthy, remains a top NBA big (sorry, Lakers fans). Here's another: If the numbers are right and Whiteside proves to be a D12 clone, the Heat might have scored the biggest steal in NBA history.

Per 36 minutes:

Howard (career): 18.3 ppg, 12.9 rpg, 2.1 bpg, 57.9 FG%

Whiteside (2014-15): 18.4 ppg, 15.8 rpg, 4.3 bpg, 64.2 FG%