As expected, the NBA trading deadline passed Thursday at noon, with barely a peep out of the Trail Blazers.

Oh, Portland shipped injured center Skal Labissiere off to Atlanta and got luxury-tax relief, a future protected second-round draft choice and a trade exception.

But the big news was expected: there was no trade of Hassan Whiteside.

The Trail Blazers stuck with their soon-to-be free-agent center and his $27.8 million contract. He is leading the league in blocked shots, shooting 60.9 percent from the field and is the only legitimate center on the Trail Blazers' active roster.

That will make Whiteside happy, he has said that he didn't want to go anywhere and is happy with his coaching staff, his team and the city:

"Yeah," he said. "For sure. It's definitely something I've thought about and something I want.

"But it's not all up to me. I would love to play back with CJ and Dame. I've known those guys for four or five years. Great guys.

"I'm building chemistry with this coaching staff. I really like this coaching staff. I'm enjoying Portland. It's going to start heating up around here soon.

"I'm excited about it."

The Trail Blazers will apparently try to see just how much he likes it here this summer -- by attempting to reach an agreement with him on a new deal.

And the market for back-to-the-basket post players may allow Portland to sign Whiteside to a reasonable contract.

Detroit's Andre Drummond was dealt Thursday to Cleveland for the expiring contracts of John Henson and Brandon Knight -- obviously not a valuable haul.

Of course, Whiteside would likely have to accept a role backing up Jusuf Nurkic at center, but if he's well paid, likes playing here and has a chance to win a lot of games... it would seem at least a possibility,

Hassan Whiteside stays a Trail Blazer, but will it last past this season? originally appeared on NBC Sports Northwest