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<\/p>\nGLENDALE \u2013 The Phoenix Suns made a rare move during All-Star Weekend of signing a player. Usually the All-Star break has little movement from teams, trying to rest up for the final push to the Playoffs. However, ESPN\u2019s Shams Charania reported on Saturday that Phoenix signed former Miami Heat wing Haywood Highsmith to a multiyear deal.<\/p>\n
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Apr 11, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Miami Heat forward Haywood Highsmith (24) dunks the ball against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
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Highsmith heading to the Suns:<\/p>\n
Highsmith signed with the Brooklyn Nets last offseason but was waived before the start of the 2025-2026 season. Since going undrafted in 2018, Highsmith has had to grind to just make an NBA roster. He only appeared in five games for the Philadelphia 76ers on a two-way contract during his rookie season. Following his first year, Highsmith did have an Exhibit 10 deal with the Suns, but the franchise decided to not bring him on the roster.<\/p>\n
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Apr 23, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Miami Heat forward Haywood Highsmith (24) reacts in the fourth quarter of game two of the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
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After two years battling in the G-League and other international leagues, the Heat signed him to a 10-day contract. It wouldn\u2019t be until after his third 10-day contract that Highsmith would sign a three-year deal with Miami. From 2022-2025, the 29-year-old appeared in 194 games and started 79, averaging 5.8 points and 3.4 rebounds on 37.8% from 3-point line.<\/p>\n
The \u201cHeat Culture\u201d has become a moniker that many NBA fans roll their eyes at, but Highsmith is the clearest example of it elevating a player. It took Highsmith four years after leaving Wheeling University to get his first multiyear deal and became a crucial part of a Heat team that made it to the Finals in 2023 and beyond.<\/p>\n
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Dec 7, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) brings the ball up the court against Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) and forward Haywood Highsmith (24) during the first half at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
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He plays bigger than his 6\u20195 frame and has become an above average shooter from beyond the arc his past two seasons, shooting 38.8% on three attempts per game. Highsmith could fit into Jordan Goodwin\u2019s current role, but just a little bit bigger and shooting slightly better from the perimeter on one less attempt.<\/p>\n
Highsmith will have to battle for minutes, especially with another new arrival in Amir Coffey, who\u2019s combined for 33 minutes and 15 points in his first two games. Suns head coach Jordan Ott will have another player who fits into the culture of this year\u2019s team of aggressive, defensive focused wings that can shoot, and Highsmith certainly fits the bill.<\/p>\n
Get the BEST Phoenix sports insider information, and exclusive content. SIGN UP HERE to unlock our premium content!*Reporter Tanner Tortorella covers general assignment for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @TannerTSports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GLENDALE \u2013 The Phoenix Suns made a rare move during All-Star Weekend of signing a player. Usually the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":605566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3778],"tags":[4040,7,247,193,2292,420,2293,144,397,3012,4164,295,189,3881,6,470,207,472,13066,492,3209],"class_list":{"0":"post-605565","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami-heat","8":"tag-amir-coffey","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-brooklyn-nets","11":"tag-cleveland-cavaliers","12":"tag-devin-booker","13":"tag-florida","14":"tag-haywood-highsmith","15":"tag-heat","16":"tag-jordan-goodwin","17":"tag-kaseya-center","18":"tag-mandatory-credit","19":"tag-miami","20":"tag-miami-heat","21":"tag-miamiheat","22":"tag-nba","23":"tag-new-orleans-pelicans","24":"tag-philadelphia-76ers","25":"tag-phoenix-suns","26":"tag-smoothie-king-center","27":"tag-tyler-herro","28":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116077970439727992","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605565","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=605565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/605566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}