Yes OK Miami Heat specializes in finding Players lostwho didn’t catch the NBA’s attention out of college, likely won’t have a name on their roster more unknown for the average league fan his Haywood Highsmith.
He Baltimore native forward He had almost no shots in the NBA before this season and even fewer in the Playoffs, where in 2023, he already had some interesting appearances.
What exactly opened up a spot for Highsmith in Spoelstra’s rotation? Details below.
Highsmith and a different path in the NBA
If there is a player in the 2023 Finals who has taken a Alternative route to the NBA, who is undoubtedly Haywood Highsmith. For starters, the Miami Heat forward didn’t even play in NCAA Division I, instead playing in the minors Wheeling University one second category that rarely puts players in the elite of basketball.
After going undrafted, Highsmith had a small and almost testimonial 2018-2019 NBA debut with the Philadelphia 76ers, with whom he played just 40 total minutes in five games. After being cut by the Sixers, his career led to Europe (Germany and Italy) and, above all, to break from the G League.
Finally, his The net arrival in the NBA took place in 2021-2022hand in hand with the franchise that specializes so much in finding this kind of lost talent: Miami Heat.
Juice 19 games in 2021-2022 and he had much more exposure in the current season (54 games and 17.9 minutes on average), which he actually reached 11 title games. His playoff numbers? Averaging nearly 10 minutes, playing 13 games before starting the Finals with Denver.
Its most visible interpretation came in Game 5 of the East Finals with Bostonin which it happened 36 minutes on the fieldin total 15 points in addition to 2 rebounds, 2 steals and an assist, with a 6-9 field goal.
This good performance led to this as well will look to Spoelstra for the decisive Game 7 at TD Gardenin which he played 9 unexpected minutes and had a positive defensive contribution.
Haywood Highsmith, the true ECF MVP pic.twitter.com/yuuhkMNn26
— John Jablonka (@JohnJablonka_) May 30, 2023
When Highsmith takes the field, he does so with an almost singular goal: defense. In attack it has significant shortcomings. But on the defensive end, he stands out as a strong, athletic forward with long arms to pull down rebounds, cut balls and be in that first line of defense in the 2-3 zone that Miami usually offers.
