{"id":604626,"date":"2026-02-15T14:08:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T14:08:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/604626\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T14:08:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T14:08:30","slug":"phoenix-suns-sign-free-agent-who-has-been-on-their-radar-for-2-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/604626\/","title":{"rendered":"Phoenix Suns sign free agent who has been on their radar for 2 years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>INGLEWOOD, CA \u2013 The <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/basketball\/nba\/teams\/phoenix-suns\/21\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Phoenix Suns;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Phoenix Suns<\/a> have signed Haywood Highsmith, sources confirmed to The Arizona Republic on Feb. 14.<\/p>\n<p>ESPN&#8217;s Shams Charania first reported Highsmith signed a multiyear deal with the Suns (32-23).<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/basketball\/nba\/teams\/brooklyn-nets\/17\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Brooklyn Nets;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Brooklyn Nets<\/a> waived Highsmith before the Feb. 5 trade deadline after acquiring him from the <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/basketball\/nba\/teams\/miami-heat\/14\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Miami Heat;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Miami Heat<\/a> in a trade last August.<\/p>\n<p>The 6-foot-5-inch forward has yet to play a game this season after having knee surgery last summer. Highsmith averaged a career-high 6.5 points last season in 74 games with the Heat, with 42 being starts, both also career bests.<\/p>\n<p>1 \/ 5<\/p>\n<p>Phoenix Suns conclude homestand vs. Oklahoma City Thunder<\/p>\n<p>Phoenix Suns guard Jordan Goodwin (23) grabs the ball during the first half of the game at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, on Feb. 11, 2026.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"cropped-img\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dd6129d6c92b7c1e0082e6e559aa1eef.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>1 \/ 5<\/p>\n<p>Phoenix Suns conclude homestand vs. Oklahoma City Thunder<\/p>\n<p>Phoenix Suns guard Jordan Goodwin (23) grabs the ball during the first half of the game at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, on Feb. 11, 2026.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"cropped-img\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/6b2d837fb91f45c2b2182e3e086ddebc.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>2 \/ 5<\/p>\n<p>Phoenix Suns conclude homestand vs. Oklahoma City Thunder<\/p>\n<p>Phoenix Suns guard Jordan Goodwin (23) dribbles during the first half of the game at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, on Feb. 11, 2026.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"cropped-img\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dea3a2c7394646849f0b8d5397a5a0e6.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>3 \/ 5<\/p>\n<p>Phoenix Suns conclude homestand vs. Oklahoma City Thunder<\/p>\n<p>Phoenix Suns guard\/forward Dillon Brooks (3) shoots against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace (22)during the first half of the game at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, on Feb. 11, 2026.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"cropped-img\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/55c711e5393fd4aa4072991972c3aa4f.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>4 \/ 5<\/p>\n<p>Phoenix Suns conclude homestand vs. Oklahoma City Thunder<\/p>\n<p>Phoenix Suns center Mark Williams (15) goes for a shot against Oklahoma City Thunder center\/forward Isaiah Hartenstein (55) during the first half of the game at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, on Feb. 11, 2026.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"cropped-img\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/27ddc5c5db2d6835733b8f6b786ef05d.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>5 \/ 5<\/p>\n<p>Phoenix Suns conclude homestand vs. Oklahoma City Thunder<\/p>\n<p>Phoenix Suns center Mark Williams (15) dunks the ball during the first half of the game at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, on Feb. 11, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Sources inform The Republic that Highsmith has been on Phoenix\u2019s radar for two years, and Highsmith is seen as a fit in terms of competitiveness and toughness.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s a career 37.4% shooter from 3 who can play the three or four.<\/p>\n<p>The Suns had a roster spot open on their standard roster that can have 15 players, but they have been expected to waive Cole Anthony, sources have informed The Republic.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/mailto:dmrankin@gannett.com\" data-ylk=\"slk:dmrankin@gannett.com;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">dmrankin@gannett.com<\/a> or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DuaneRankin\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:@DuaneRankin;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">@DuaneRankin<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Support local journalism: Subscribe to <a href=\"https:\/\/cm.azcentral.com\/specialoffer?gps-source=CPNEWS&amp;utm_medium=onsite&amp;utm_source=TAGLINE&amp;utm_campaign=NEWSROOM&amp;utm_content=JEREMYCLUFF\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:azcentral.com;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">azcentral.com<\/a> today.<\/p>\n<p>This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/story\/sports\/nba\/suns\/2026\/02\/14\/phoenix-suns-sign-free-agent-haywood-highsmith-after-lengthy-pursuit\/88686444007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Phoenix Suns sign free agent Haywood Highsmith after lengthy pursuit;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Phoenix Suns sign free agent Haywood Highsmith after lengthy pursuit<\/a><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INGLEWOOD, CA \u2013 The Phoenix Suns have signed Haywood Highsmith, sources confirmed to The Arizona Republic on Feb.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3791],"tags":[7,247,406,2293,189,6,2065,472,4045,567,604,32790,80589,6445],"class_list":{"0":"post-604626","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix-suns","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-brooklyn-nets","10":"tag-cole-anthony","11":"tag-haywood-highsmith","12":"tag-miami-heat","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-phoenix","15":"tag-phoenix-suns","16":"tag-phoenixsuns","17":"tag-shams-charania","18":"tag-suns","19":"tag-the-arizona-republic","20":"tag-the-republic","21":"tag-the-suns"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116075044612720300","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}