Miami Heat guarantee Haywood Highsmith's $1.9 million salary for 2023-24
The team had until July 15 to guarantee his upcoming salary.
The Miami Heat have officially guaranteed Haywood Highsmith’s contract for the 2023-24 season, ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski was first to report Thursday.
The team had until July 15 whether or not to guarantee his 2023-24 salary, worth $1.9 million. Highsmith, 26, averaged 4.4 points and 3.5 rebounds in 17.9 minutes last season, shooting 43.1 percent from the floor and 33.9 percent from 3-point range.
In 26 career playoff games, Highsmith recorded 69 career points on 58.7 percent shooting in 192 total minutes, including 60 points in 161 minutes during this most recent NBA Finals run.
He will be entering the final year of a two-year minimum contract he signed ahead of the 2022-23 season. He will be eligible to become a restricted free agent next season with a qualifying offer worth $2.4 million. If Highsmith hypothetically signed said offer, he would become an unrestricted free agent after the 2024-25 season.
Offensively, Highsmith is an improving spot-up shooter and a threat around the rim; last season, he was a 34.0 percent catch-and-shoot 3-point shooter (35-103). He was also one of Miami’s best offensive rebounders, where he used his very good instincts and 7-foot-wingspan to his advantage, finishing in the 79th percentile among 300 rotation players in offensive rebounds per 75 possessions, per Basketball Index.
He also uses those advantages on the perimeter defensively, which helps him become very switchable; additionally, Miami’s “locksmith” possesses good foot speed, dexterity and screen navigation. Highsmith’s oftentimes tasked with defending (one of) the opposition’s best wings (when he’s on the floor), but can switch and hold his own against smaller guards.
Now, he returns as one of Miami’s most versatile defenders, alongside Bam Adebayo (duh), Jimmy Butler and newly-signed Josh Richardson, who signed a two-year minimum on the first day of free agency.
The Heat now officially have 13 players on contract with $178.1 in active cap—roughly $12.9 million above the $165.294 luxury tax threshold and $4.6 million below the vaunted $182.794 million second apron.
In 78 career games, Highsmith has averaged 3.7 points and 2.8 rebounds on 41.5 percent shooting, including 33.1 percent from beyond the arc. He was a part of the Philadelphia 76ers organization before his time with Heat.
This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.
I for one would like to see The Dragon finish his career in Miami. But that's just me. https://allucanheat.com/2023/07/14/goran-dragic-wants-return-miami-heat/?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email&sc=e0273490fd355e2c28bdb25751d41af65a4dd80936ff00a80be9866c97887955
And one more Ira:
“ Q: Damian Lillard is 33 today. Not 23. The Blazers’ asking price is too high. I hope the Heat don’t cave. He is essentially a two-year rental. The Heat need to stay tough. – Chadwick, Lake Worth.
A: Actually, he would be a four-year rental, since Damian Lillard is under contract for four more seasons at nearly $200 million. And that is what is getting lost in the equation. That is not an age nor a contract where the bidding needs to get outlandish, because there are few suitors, and perhaps only one suitor (when factoring in Lillard’s desire to solely play for the Heat). The Blazers are the ones in a bind, not the Heat.”