Besides the Miami Heat's star players like Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, the team also has underrated talent that can show up and impress this upcoming season. One of those players is Haywood Highsmith who's looking to make a jump and be the mainstay in head coach Erik Spoelstra's rotation.

While he's shown to be an excellent perimeter defender, he's also worked heavily on his offensive game. More specifically, he's been refining his three-point shooting abilities. Fans have been watching that pay off so far in the preseason and saw it recently in his performance against the Brooklyn Nets. Highsmith put up a team-high 15 points and shot three-for-four from deep.

Highsmith revealed post-game that he's been working with Heat dynamic three-point shooter Duncan Robinson in the off-season. Funny enough, he said that it's humiliating to face him in drills, but that drive to match Robinson makes him a better player.

“Shooting with Duncan can be very frustrating because we have competitive drills. And you know, I think I'm shooting my absolute best, but he's beating me in every drill,” Highsmith said to the media after the home preseason finale. “So it's kind of frustrating for me, but it made me a better shooter. It definitely helped me as far as my jump shot confidence,”

“But he always gets the best of me because he's Duncan, he's one of the best shooters in the NBA, but it's just good to work out with a guy like Duncan and learn from the best,” Highsmith concluded.

Haywood Highsmith standing out in the playoffs

Haywood Highsmith, Miami Heat

The 26-year old got a huge showcase, most notably in the incredible playoff run last season by the Heat, because of all the injuries to the team. He said that his playing time in the postseason made him feel like he truly belonged in the NBA.

“I wasn't playing in the playoffs at first and then some injuries happened and then I started getting some more playing time, so I had to step up,” Highsmith said. “Last year in the playoffs, I had some good moments and it was good for me to just get in that type of situation and believe in myself and understand that I belong and give me more confidence moving forward.”

Being a part of the team since 2021, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is not surprised by Highsmith's performance since last year because he's seen the incremental jumps of improvement.

“He just has great fortitude. Like a lot of the guys that we've developed, you have to have that. If you don't have that, you're probably not going to make it,” Spoelstra said. “The talent level is always pretty similar, it's the fortitude, that's the separator. And he has that, he just been so consistent with his work.”

“I felt going into training camp last year that he was just markedly improved,” Spoelstra continued. “I don't know what that's going to be for the rotation, but I just love it when players make you have to think and that's what he's doing.”

Highsmith gaining more confidence by the day

For Highsmith, a key attribute for him that he's gaining more of each day is his confidence and said that it makes him understand his role on the team.

“I mean, the more reps you take, the more confidence you're gonna get and the more comfortable you're going to get,” Highsmith said. “It's just me putting the extra work in and everything building up from my first year, you get more comfortable and more confident, and understand your roles a little bit better.”

With Highsmith nursing a knee issue from the last contest, he won't travel to Houston for the Heat's last preseason game as they'll face the Rockets. However, look for Highsmith to make an impact once the season opener comes along on Oct. 25 where Miami will face the Detroit Pistons.