The Miami Heat are re-signing forward Haywood Highsmith to a two-year, $11 million contract, agent Jerry Dianis told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Highsmith, 27, was listed among Hoops Wire’s top 10 remaining free agents. At 6-foot-7, he plays both forward spots off the bench and has been an underrated contributor for Miami over the past two-and-a-half seasons.
Undrafted out of Division II Wheeling University in 2018, Highsmith found a spot with the Philadelphia 76ers, appearing in five games as a rookie. He then spent two years overseas before latching on with the Heat.
This past season, he appeared in a career-high 66 games and averaged a career-best 6.1 points and 3.2 rebounds, shooting 46.5% from the field and 39.6% on 3-pointers.
Basically, Highsmith is gritty and a team-first guy and has become an ideal contributor off the bench or occasional fill-in as a starter. He sneaks his way to points and is often one of those players of which other teams will ask, “Where did this guy come from?” He also is a determined defender.
As Chris Herring of ESPN wrote, Highsmith “has upgraded his game every year he has been in the NBA. His 3-point shot has improved drastically over the past three campaigns (from 32% to 40%), as has his defense. This past season, he was third in the NBA in defending isolations, limiting opposing players to just 0.70 points per isolation chance, according to Second Spectrum.”
His role could also increase this season after the Heat lost forward Caleb Martin to the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency.
