Haywood Highsmith Traded to Brooklyn: Five Reasons Sports Network’s Instant Reactions

Austin Dobbins.  @Austind1316

• Grade, C

“This move lands squarely in the ‘meh’ category for me. Moving on from a player like Haywood for essentially nothing doesn’t make much sense, but it does open up avenues for younger talent to perform. Haywood was on an expiring deal and is heading into his age 29 season. Moving on from Haywood opens up more minutes for Jaime Jaquez Jr., Pelle Larsson, and Nikola Jovic, giving Miami an out to explore their young talent and see where they are at with what they have. Most importantly to Pat Riley and the front office they went after a chance to get under the luxury tax, something they made clear they wanted to do for this season. I would have thought that they would wait until the trade deadline to do this, but I expect there to be a corresponding move with this and overall give the trade a c.”

Digital Adel @DigitalAdel

• Grade C-

“It makes sense to me Haywood’s defense was terrible last season and if he can’t do that he can’t be on the roster.” Adel also discussed how the attached asset is bad which is an agreed upon theme from our network.

Matt Hanifan @mph_824_

• Grade C+

“The Miami Heat attaching a second-round pick to salary dump Haywood Highsmith for essentially nothing is another example of their poor asset management when it comes to second-round picks. Haywood Highsmith regressed a pretty good amount as a defender last season. But now even more burden has been placed on Jaquez, Pelle and Keshad’s shoulders (among others) to be decent defenders. (Larsson was as good, if not better defensively LY anyway, but still.)”

Major Passons @Major_Passons

• Grade, D

“I don’t understand attaching a pick to get rid of a rotation player that could be useful on several teams. I get that it gives them a lot of flexibility, but it makes no sense to me. They had a lot of time to get under the tax, hard to believe this deal wouldn’t have been available later in the year as a worst-case scenario.”

Sean Rochester @SRochesterNBA

• Grade C-

“I wasn’t surprised with the move itself, but rather the timing of it. Without knowing of any imminent related moves, it seems as though the draft compensation could have been avoided if the Heat waited until HH was healthy and a contending team(s) were more desperate. All that being said, HH was never going to draw a large return anyways. For the Heat, this opens up opportunities for the young players which should be something Heat fans are excited about.”

Get Greg and Ethan’s takes here

Haywood Highsmith traded by Miami Heat WITH a pick. Why? – Five On The Floor: Miami Heat/NBA | Podcast on Spotify

Overall Consensus: A Questionable, “Meh” Move

The overall sentiment is that the trade is a head-scratcher, with grades ranging from a “C+” to a “D.” While the motivations behind the move are understood, the execution of the trade is widely criticized by the network.

Key Points of Agreement:

• The “Why”: The network agrees that the primary goal for the Miami Heat was to shed salary to get under the luxury tax line, something the front office made clear was a priority. The move also opens up minutes for younger players like Jaime Jaquez Jr., Pelle Larsson, Keshad Johnson, and Nikola Jovic, which is seen as a positive for development.
• The “How” (The Flaw): The major point of contention and the reason for the low grades is the inclusion of the 2032 second-round pick. Multiple analysts (Hanifan, Passons, and Adel) express bewilderment over why the Heat attached an asset to get rid of a rotation player, especially when they received a heavily protected second-round pick in return (which won’t likely ever get to Miami).
• Questionable Timing: There is a shared sense of surprise regarding the timing of the trade. As Sean Rochester and others point out, the Heat could have likely waited until the trade deadline to make a similar move without having to give up the draft compensation.