Heat bringing back Haywood Highsmith on two-year deal. Where things stand with the roster
The Miami Heat’s roster for next season now appears to be set, unless there’s a trade made in the coming weeks and months.
The Heat agreed to a deal to bring back forward Haywood Highsmith on a two-year contract worth $11 million, Highsmith’s agent Jerry Dianis confirmed to the Miami Herald on Monday. There is no team or player option in the deal, which was signed by Highsmith on Monday evening to give the Heat 14 players on standard contracts for next season.
“I think that Haywood and I have been consistent in wanting to be in Miami,” Dianis said to the Miami Herald. “... Ultimately, we think that Haywood is a perfect fit for the Heat. We think that Haywood is a core piece for Miami as they move forward.”
With the Heat losing undrafted success stories Max Strus (signed last year with the Cleveland Cavaliers), Gabe Vincent (signed last year with the Los Angeles Lakers) and Caleb Martin (signed this year with the Philadelphia 76ers) in free agency since last offseason, re-signing Highsmith avoids another such departure.
“It’s been a process,” Haywood said Monday during a Zoom call with reporters when asked about the free-agency process, which led to him singing a new deal with the Heat one week after league-wide negotiations were allowed to begin. “This is my first time being a real free agent, so we just took it day by day. There were multiple calls, multiple meetings, talking about different things. It’s been a process.
“It’s been an up-and-down roller coaster. But I think the contract I got now with the Heat, I’m really satisfied with it. I think we still got more in the tank, for sure. So I’m just going to keep pushing. It’s been a bit of a journey, a bit of a process. I’m glad to be back.”
Highsmith added he “had some offers” and free agency “could have gone either way, but I’m glad to be back with the Miami Heat.”
Highsmith, 27, averaged career highs in points (6.1 per game), assists (1.1), steals (0.8), blocks (0.5) and minutes (20.7) while shooting career-bests from the field (46.5 percent) and three-point range (39.6 percent) this past regular season for the Heat. He also appeared in a career-high 66 games and made a career-high 26 starts.
Highsmith (6-foot-5 and 220 pounds) also established himself as one of the Heat’s top defenders this past season, as the coaching staff trusted him to defend elite scorers such as DeMar DeRozan, Tyrese Maxey, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Trae Young for extended stretches.
In addition, Highsmith received extended playing time in the playoffs this past season. With the Heat’s injury issues lifting Highsmith into an even bigger role, he played 25.1 minutes per game during Miami’s short five-game playoff run that ended in the first round.
Highsmith went undrafted out of Wheeling University in 2018 and spent the 2020-21 season in the German Basketball Bundesliga. Before initially joining the Heat in the middle of the 2021-22 season on a 10-day contract, Highsmith had played in just five regular-season NBA games.
With Martin leaving the Heat to join the 76ers in free agency, Highsmith made clear he’s not looking to fill Martin’s void at the wing/small-ball power forward spot.
“I’m going to be myself. I’m not going to try to fill nobody’s shoes,” Highsmith said. “I know the type of player I am in this league. I’m a defender, tough guy, can make open shots, make threes and I’m a good shooter and I’m going to play the right way, play hard and do whatever it takes to win.”
WHERE THINGS STAND WITH HEAT’S ROSTER
While Highsmith’s return gives the Heat 14 players on standard contracts for next season, Miami’s roster remains one short of the regular-season limit of 15 players under standard contracts. But the Heat is expected to open this upcoming regular season with 14 players on standard deals — which is permitted by NBA rules — because of its salary-cap crunch.
The 14 players who the Heat has on standard contracts for next season are Jimmy Butler ($48.8 million cap hit), Bam Adebayo ($34.8 million), Tyler Herro ($29 million), Terry Rozier ($24.9 million), Duncan Robinson ($19.4 million), Highsmith ($5.3 million), Kel’el Ware ($4.2 million), Kevin Love ($3.8 million), Jaime Jaquez Jr. ($3.7 million), Josh Richardson ($3.1 million), Nikola Jovic ($2.5 million), Thomas Bryant ($2.1 million), Alec Burks ($2.1 million), and Pelle Larsson ($1.2 million).
The Heat has about $187.4 million committed to salaries for 14 players, including the $2.5 million in “unlikely to be earned incentives” that raise Herro’s cap number for this upcoming season to $31.5 million.
With the salary cap for the 2024-25 season set at $140.6 million and the luxury tax threshold set at $170.8 million, this means the Heat is already in luxury-tax territory. The Heat has also already exceeded the first apron that’s set at $178.1 million and is now just about $1.5 million away from the dreaded second apron that’s set at $188.9 million, which Miami does not intend to cross during the 2024-25 NBA calendar unless it’s to acquire an All-Star talent.
Adding a 15th player to a fully guaranteed standard contract to reach the regular-season roster limit prior to the start of the regular season would push the Heat above the second apron. Even signing an undrafted rookie to a minimum deal with an actual salary of $1.2 million would come with a $2.1 million cap hit because of NBA rules that would take Miami past the second apron.
The only players who actually come with a rookie minimum cap hit of $1.2 million are those drafted in the second round like Larsson, who the Heat already signed.
In other words, there’s no player who the Heat can sign to fill the 15th spot on its roster before the start of the regular season without exceeding the second apron line — unless a trade is made to change the salary-cap math. For example, if restricted free agents Cole Swider and/or Alondes Williams are offered a standard minimum contract by another team, the Heat would not be able to match the offer to re-sign them without going over the second apron.
Instead, the Heat needs to wait until the point in the regular season when a pro-rated minimum deal would fit under the second apron to add a 15th player on a standard contract while remaining below that threshold.
By staying under the second apron, the Heat is still allowed to aggregate salaries in a trade or send out cash in a trade. But because Miami is already above the first apron, it can’t take back more salary in a trade than it sends out.
The Heat used Bird rights to retain Highsmith, so it still has the $5.2 million taxpayer midlevel exception available to use. But considering that using the taxpayer midlevel exception would trigger a hard cap at the second apron, Miami can’t currently use that exception since it’s less than $2 million away from the second apron line.
Along with the Heat’s standard roster essentially being full, its three two-way contract slots are also filled with Dru Smith, Zyon Pullin and Keshad Johnson. With undrafted guard Isaiah Stevens signed to an Exhibit 10 tryout contract, the Heat has 18 players committed to some type of contract for next season.
NBA teams are allowed to carry up to 21 players under contract in the offseason and preseason, a total that does not include those on summer league contracts. Rosters must be cut to a maximum total of 18 players (15 on standard contracts and three on two-way contracts) by the start of the regular season.
With Highsmith off the board, that leaves four players from the Heat’s season-ending roster who remain free agents: Jamal Cain (unrestricted free agent), Patty Mills (unrestricted free agent), Swider (restricted free agent) and Williams (restricted free agent).
“The Heat have just invested in me and I appreciate them,” Highsmith said. “They took a chance on a Division II kid and I couldn’t be more grateful.”
This story was originally published July 8, 2024 at 1:47 PM.
