The player review series is officially back! We are nearly one month removed from the conclusion of the 2024-25 Miami Heat season, which was one of the worst since the turn of the century. Over the next several (week)days, we will be reviewing how each Heat player performed throughout the 2024-25 season, recapping important numbers, best game(s) and their future outlook with the team. Today, we will be reviewing versatile forward Haywood Highsmith.
Let’s dive into it— and if you’ve missed any of our previous reviews, click below!
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Brief Overview:
2024-25 stats (74 games):
- 6.5 PTS
- 3.4 REB
- 1.5 AST
- 0.9 STLS
- 0.5 BLKS
- 45.8 FG%
- 38.2 3P%
- 58.3 TS%
During the 2024 offseason, Miami re-signed the 3 and D Highsmith to a very team friendly two-year $10.8 million deal. The importance of bringing him back was only magnified more as soon as Caleb Martin departed in free agency. The Heat needed a defensive minded wing, and keeping Highsmith with the franchise that developed him made sense for both sides.
This past season, coach Erik Spoelstra had the “Locksmith” play in different roles. For more than half the campaign, he slotted in as the Heat’s starting power foward— until Kel’el Ware emerged as the team’s new big man alongside Bam Adebayo. But Highsmith remained a quality rotation piece whether it came off the bench or with the starters.
Numbers To Note:
74 – Highsmith was one of Miami’s most consistent players this year availability wise. He appeared in a career-high 74 games, and started in 42 of them. In the games that he played with the starters, the Heat displayed a lot of success on the court— until the Jimmy Butler drama started to unfold.
5 – With his 3-point efficiency at a very respectable clip of near 39% on the season, Highsmith was one of the Heat’s best floor spreaders. During one of Miami’s first round playoff matchup again at the Cleveland Cavaliers, he tied a career-high by nailing five 3-pointers in a game. Additionally, Highsmith had three games this season where the wing recorded four 3-point makes.
Best game?
On November 6, 2024, Miami fell just short to the Phoenix Suns on the road with a final score of 115-112 in the loss. In what was a shaky offensive performance from the whole team outside of Tyler Herro’s 28 points, Highsmith stepped up with elite shooting efficiency off the bench. He submitted 19 points— the second highest of the team that night and a personal season-high. It was a near perfect night offensively from Highsmith, who knocked down seven of his eight field goal attempts to go along with seven rebounds.
What’s next?
Highsmith is set to return to the Heat roster for next season on the second and final year of that two-year deal he signed last summer. Considering he is owed just a little over $5 million for the 2025-26 campaign, expect him to stick around even if roster changes are made. His salary is team friendly, and Miami has great value in the 3 and D efforts with their wing depth in Highsmith.
He will aim to get his 3-point efficiency back closer to the 40% mark and tighten up his individual defense on the perimeter. But all in all, the Heat know what they are getting out of minutes from Highsmith. And he will continue to be a solid contributor under Spoelstra for at least another season.
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guys like him dime a dozen if he stays so be it leaves so be it.not a diff maker.dont know his contract sit i leave that up to rc our apron hhh guy.i leave personnel moves to yours truly and sunman.rc doesnt value defense enough he always liked dunc just didnt like contract.both are bad.doesnt help winning games.hes what we call a salary cap thief needs to be thrown in hfl jail for 6 years
$5.6 million that expires after next season. I think we could sign 2 young players for that amount who would be just as good. Heat should probably include him in a trade package.
Absolutely. Maybe packaged with Herro or Wiggins or Rozier.
he has no value
Defensive specialist with 3 & D starter potential, if he ever develops the confidence to create his own shots and score the way he is capable of scoring. His defense is solid. Miami is sitting on two players with similar potential, Highsmith and Johnson. If Miami doesn’t figure out how to help them both reach their ceilings, some other team(s) will.
hes been here long enough.never took that next step with his offense sun.he has it in his tool box but never uses it.seems like hes happy just getting his 5 pts a night and guarding ,
There is no question that he has value at his current salary for any team that needs someone to provide defense during a game. Plus, he was at a very reasonable 38.2% 3p%. Unlike Duncan or Rozier, it shouldn’t be difficult to include him in a package or trade him straight up for a player or future second round pick.