Brooklyn Nets forward Haywood Highsmith was acquired via trade from the Miami Heat on Friday along with Miami’s 2032 second-round pick in exchange for Brooklyn’s 2026 second-round pick. Given where Brooklyn is as a rebuilding team, along with the Nets’ second-round pick in 2026 being protected from the 31st overall pick to the 55th pick, it seems that Brooklyn is unlikely to give up a second-round pick at all.
Be that as it may, the Nets have ultimately brought in a player in Highsmith that has had an interesting journey in his professional basketball career after leaving Wheeling University. Highsmith, born in Baltimore, Maryland, played his high school basketball in Baltimore before embarking on a college basketball career at Wheeling that showed what he could do at a higher level.
Highsmith’s time at Wheeling saw him accomplish great feats on the hardwood as he was a two-time All-MEC (Mountain East Conference) winner, MEC Player of the Year, and First-Team Division II All-American during his senior year. After a successful college basketball career at the Division II level, Highsmith entered the 2018 NBA Draft where he went on to go undrafted before catching on with the Delaware Blue Coats of the NBA G League.
Highsmith signed a Two-Way contract with the Philadelphia 76ers in January of the 2018-19 season, but spent most of his time playing for the 76ers’ G League afiliate in the Blue Coats. Highsmith spent the 2019-20 campaign with the Blue Coats, but used the 2020-21 season to see if he could realize his professional basketball dreams elsewhere by playing overseas for the Crailsheim Merlins in Germany.
During the 2021-22 season, Highsmith caught his first big break in the NBA after signing a 10-day contract with the Heat in February of that season. Highsmith played well enough to earn two more 10-day deals with Miami before eventually signing a rest-of-season contract that became a three-year, $3.9 million deal that took him through the 2023-24 campaign.
In his four seasons with the Heat, Highsmith averaged 5.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game while shooting 44.9% from the field and 37.5% from three-point land. Highsmith is coming off arguably his best season in Miami after averaging 6.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per contest while shooting 45.8% from the floor and 38.2% from deep.
What stands out the most about Highsmith’s game is his ability on the defensive end of the floor to guard perimeter players and make life tough for even some of the league’s best players. There are enough defensive highlights for Highsmith that someone was able to put together a nearly six-minute video of some of his best possessions during the 2024-25 campaign alone.
Highsmith, 28, joins a Nets team with plenty of young players on the roster and the former Wheeling Cardinal has the chance to bring his experience and defensive tenacity to head coach Jordi Fernandez’s roster. Highsmith has one year left on his current contract and will be owed $5.6 million over the course of the 2025-26 season so Brooklyn found a way to get another 3-and-D wing at a value.