FEBRUARY 15: Highsmith’s 10-day contract is now official, the Heat announced in a press release.
Highsmith’s contract will actually cover 11 days due to the All-Star break. Standard 10-day deals are required to cover either 10 days or three games, whichever comes later. Miami has two more games before the All-Star break, then doesn’t play again until February 25 — Highsmith would be eligible to play in that game before his deal expires.
FEBRUARY 14: The Heat are signing swingman Haywood Highsmith to a 10-day contract, agent Jerry Dianis told our JD Shaw (Twitter link)
Highsmith had a 10-day stint with Miami under the hardship exception in late December and early January. He appeared in four games, averaging 3.0 PPG and 1.3 RPG in 10.5 MPG. The Heat view him as a strong fit for the team’s culture.
As we noted earlier on Monday, Miami had two open roster spots after last week’s trade deadline and needed to fill at least one of them within two weeks. Highsmith’s versatility allows him to play shooting guard, small forward and power forward, something that could help Miami since the team traded KZ Okpala and still hasn’t cleared Markieff Morris.
Highsmith had a brief stint with the Sixers in 2018/19, appearing in five games for the club on a two-way contract. The 25-year-old also spent the 2020/21 season in Germany, but has otherwise played mostly for the Delaware Blue Coats, Philadelphia’s G League affiliate, since going pro in ’18. He has appeared in 17 games with the Blue Coats this season, averaging 13.6 PPG on 39% shooting from three-point range.
The 6’7” Highsmith also played on USA Basketball’s 2023 World Cup qualifying team in November.
Yawn!
Played really well when they had him during the covid situation, and was 1 of 5 or so options, of current free agents, I was thinking about for that last spot. I think he can be a useful at the 4, even though he might be more of a wing. Probably a 3/4 more than a 4/3, but I think he should fot. His net rating with us was pretty crazy earlier in the season, obviously in the short sample size
If I was the Heat, I would prioritize Chris Silva, because the fan’s like him and he’s young and good
They dont have a spot for him right now. All of their bigs are currently healthy. If UD wasnt still around, I would say for sure, but having 5 bigs on the roster is a lot, when there is a redundancy there. I could maybe see them trying to add a big that can shoot, but there arent any current free agents like that, really. They have Potter in the d-league, but they’re probably going to give him that look in summer league and training camp
I personally liked Chris Silva the first time he was with the Heat. He has a lot of UD in him, and at times can give you a remedial facsimile of some of what Bam does, and has improved slightly in certain areas that needed improvement too. He just needs to keep getting better at those things (not fouling, better decision making, etc)
since they don’t have a regular roster spot for him, I’d give him Martin’s now vacated two-way