The 2025-26 NBA trade deadline is five months away, but it’s never too early for a team like the Philadelphia 76ers to start scanning the market. Philadelphia faces a lot of uncertainty from both a health and a roster lens. However, the Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat recently completed a trade that could help the 76ers out with the latter.
Miami dealt Haywood Highsmith and a 2032 second-round pick to Brooklyn in exchange for a protected 2026 second-round pick on Friday, according to Shams Charania of ESPN. Highsmith will enter his sixth season in the NBA, having played his last four seasons with the Heat. The 28-year-old participated in 74 games for Miami last year where he averaged 6.5 points per game on 58.3% true-shooting. He also shot 38.2% from deep on 3.1 nightly attempts.
Highsmith would immediately gel with the 76ers
You may be wondering why the 76ers should be interested in a player with subpar trade value and pedestrian numbers. This is mostly because of a knee injury he suffered earlier this month, which will sideline him for eight to 10 weeks. The Heat were also motivated to dodge the $195.5 million first tax apron threshold.
Regardless, Highsmith has proven to be a respectable rotational player during his Heat tenure. He’s your prototypical 3&D forward, who can guard the point-of-attack and situationally defend multiple positions. The six-foot-seven-inch veteran is limited offensively outside of spot-up shooting. But, on a 76ers team littered with stars that draw gravity, it wouldn’t be much of an issue.
The 76ers have other reasons to acquire Highsmith
It’s not so much that Highsmith is someone the 76ers should burn assets to get, it’s more about how he fits into their short-term vision. Philadelphia has lots of wildcards power forwards between Trendon Watford, Jabari Walker, and Dominick Barlow. While there is reason to believe each could become a real contributor, they’re all somewhat unproven. The 76ers acquiring Highsmith wouldn’t be pivotal, but he would be their safest bet at the four.
Not to mention, he’ll enter the last year of his two-year/$10.8 million deal this upcoming season. Considering the Nets remain focused on building for the future, the 76ers could likely acquire him for a mere future second-rounder. It’d also be easy for Philadelphia to match salaries as it could send out Andre Drummond, who accepted his $5 million player option in June. Highsmith makes too much sense as a buy-low player for the 76ers on so many levels.
Funny enough, his career began in Philadelphia during the 2018-19 campaign. He signed a two-way deal with the 76ers and appeared in five contests. Highsmith went on to ink a 10-day contract with Philadelphia before getting waived ahead of the 2019-20 season. He reunited with the team in September 2021 on an Exhibit 10 deal, but was once again waived prior to the season’s beginning. In this crazy league, another reunion is certainly possible.