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The Miami Heat and Haywood Highsmith have agreed to a two-year, $11 million contract in free agency, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Highsmith, 27, is yet another product of the Heat's developmental system, which is why he was a valuable name on the open market. Numerous teams had expressed a level of interest in pursuing Highsmith in free agency, yet the financial situation teams around the league are dealing with ultimately played a major factor in what kind of offers the Heat forward was receiving.
After Caleb Martin decided to leave Miami and sign a four-year, $32 million contract with the Philadelphia 76ers, the Heat made it their priority to bring back Highsmith. Over the last three years, Highsmith has shown a lot of growth and appears to be a key secondary talent in Miami. That is why there is a really strong chance of him taking over Martin's spot in the Heat's nightly rotations.
In a total of 66 games this past season, the most he has played in a single season during his NBA career, Highsmith averaged 6.1 points and 3.2 rebounds while shooting 39.6 percent from three-point range for the Heat. Highsmith really stepped up late in the season, averaging roughly 20 minutes per game after the All-Star break while shooting over 40 percent from three-point range.
“We've been consistent with Miami with how Haywood felt,” his agent, Jerry Dianis, told Heat reporter Ira Winderman. “And we felt he wanted to be in Miami. This deal memorializes that.”
As Wojnarowski notes, Highsmith's deal with the Heat is fully guaranteed with no options, meaning the young forward is under contract with the Heat through the 2025-26 season.
Highsmith adds noise to silent Heat offseason
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The Heat are usually very aggressive when it comes to making moves in free agency and trade talks during the offseason. So far this summer, things have been quiet in South Beach, as the Heat have been conservative due to their high payroll and tax bills.
However, Bam Adebayo was the recipient of a new contract, as he is staying with Miami through the 2028-29 season after inking a three-year, $165 million contract extension. Adebayo still has two more years left on his current contract before this deal goes into effect.
Developing players is something the Heat are known for. They did so with Max Strus and Gabe Vincent, who both earned big contracts last season, and Martin is another product of what Miami can do in order to bring the most out of their players. Erik Spoelstra and the Heat are hoping that Highsmith can be the next name to rise up for them, especially since he will be one of the first names called off the bench when the 2024-25 season begins.
Despite pursuing other options, like a potential DeMar DeRozan sign-and-trade, the Heat failed in their efforts to make a big splash during the summer. On the other side of things, Highsmith held off accepting minimum-like offers from other contending teams in order to see how things played out in Miami.
Ultimately, the two sides reunited this offseason on a contract that was friendly to both the player and the organization.
