The Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets have come together on a surprising trade in the latter weeks of the NBA offseason.
ESPN’s Shams Charania has reported that the Heat have sent forward Haywood Highsmith and a 2032 second-round draft pick to the Nets in exchange for a protected 2026 second-rounder.
More news: Boston Celtics Make Big Move With Critical Draft Pick
Highsmith actually developed into a rather critical rotation piece for Miami over the last couple of seasons. This past year, he played in 74 games and made 42 starts, averaging 6.5 points and 3.4 rebounds over 24.6 minutes per game on 45.8/38.2/72.1 shooting splits.
The 28-year-old is also a very solid defender capable of guarding multiple positions, so Miami will miss his versatility on that end of the floor.
Highsmith has one year remaining on his contract and will earn $5.6 million during the 2025-26 campaign.
The Wheeling University product went undrafted but eventually landed with the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2018-19 season, where he appeared in just five games. He was then out of the NBA for a couple of years before joining the Heat in 2021-22.
It took Highsmith a full year to actually break into Miami’s rotation, where he logged 4.4 points and 3.5 boards across 17.9 minutes a night (54 games) in 2022-23. He then posted 6.1 points and 3.2 rebounds through 20.7 minutes per game while appearing in 66 contests — 26 starts — the following year.
Highsmith is a rather intriguing pickup for the Nets, who certainly could have used another strong defender in their lineup. It’s also not like Brooklyn surrendered a whole lot in return for the expiring contract.
The Nets went just 26-56 last season and famously had five first-round draft picks this past June, but were widely criticized for the way they used the selections.
Brooklyn also still has a critical decision to make on Cam Thomas, a restricted free agent who has yet to come to terms with the Nets and seems to have a very different view of his value than Brooklyn’s front office.
Meanwhile, Miami has made six straight playoff appearances, although the Heat won a grand total of 37 games last season thanks to the Jimmy Butler drama. Miami should be an interesting team to watch this coming campaign, and with the rest of the East being largely watered down, the Heat definitely have a chance to make some surprising noise.
More news: Celtics’ Payton Pritchard Receives Major Career News
Not only that, but Miami always seems to be a marquee destination for star talent, so perhaps the Heat can pull off a major midseason trade. Or perhaps they will wait until next summer to strike.
For more on the Miami Heat, Brooklyn Nets and general NBA news, head on over to Newsweek Sports.
The post Report: Heat, Nets Pull Off Surprising NBA Late-Offseason Trade appeared first on Newsweek.
