Haywood Highsmith undergoes knee surgery after suffering injury in offseason workout

Haywood Highsmith Heat — Haywood Highsmith averaged 6.5 points and 3.4 rebounds with the Miami Heat last season. (Mandatory Credit: Nick Wass/AP Photo)

Miami Heat forward Haywood Highsmith underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee after suffering an injury in an offseason workout in Baltimore, the team announced Friday. He is expected to miss eight-to-10 weeks.

INJURY UPDATE: Haywood Highsmith underwent successful surgery this morning to repair a meniscal tear in his right knee which he suffered while training in Baltimore. He will begin rehabilitation immediately and is expected to miss eight-to-10 weeks.
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) August 8, 2025

Highsmith, 28, averaged 6.5 points and 3.4 rebounds per game last season, shooting 45.8 percent from the floor and 38.2 percent from 3-point range a year ago. He is entering the final year of a two-year, $10.8 million deal he signed last summer.

An eight-to-10 week timeline could mean that he will likely miss the start of training camp and could miss the start of the regular season, which will tip-off on Oct. 21. The schedule is expected to be announced later this month, but eight weeks from this exact date is Oct. 3, which may not be enough time for the 6-foot-5 wing to ramp up.

Meniscus injuries aren’t easy to recover from — and this stunts his offseason development.

The sixth-year veteran has played 85.4 percent of available games for the Heat each of the last two seasons. While he did take a considerable step back defensively last season, he’s been one of their top long-range marksmen, canning 38.8 percent of his triples after shooting just 33.1 percent over his first three NBA seasons (albeit a smaller sample).

The Miami Heat still have a glut of wings with Andrew Wiggins, Nikola Jovic, Pelle Larsson, Simone Fontecchio, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Keshad Johnson fighting for minutes this upcoming season — in addition to Highsmith. We’ll get a better feel for how it will look come October, but this is still a big blow for the 28-year-old in a contract season.