The Miami Heat have officially ended their “Locksmith” era.
Miami is trading veteran forward Haywood Highsmith along with a 2032 second-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for a protected 2026 second-round pick, Shams Charania of ESPN reported on Friday. Charania notes that the Heat are trading away Highsmith’s salary in order to lessen their tax bill.
The 28-year-old combo forward Highsmith was one of Miami’s fabled undrafted gems. After initially spending time in the NBA G League as well as on a two-way contract with the Philadelphia 76ers, Highsmith signed with the Heat in 2021.
Miami managed to develop Highsmith into a reliable contributor on both ends of the floor. He became one of their very best wing defenders at 6-foot-7 with a 7-foot wingspan. Highsmith also shot an impressive 37.5 percent from deep over his Heat career and was a meaningful piece during Miami’s run to the NBA Finals in 2023 (making 18 appearances that postseason).
But Highsmith, who even made 42 starts for the Heat last season, is owed $5.6 million next season. Though that might seem like a negligible amount for an NBA team, shedding that figure means that Miami is now under the luxury-tax threshold for 2025-26 (by about $4.3 million).
The Heat will be banking next season on their defensive core of Davion Mitchell, Andrew Wiggins, Bam Adebayo, and Kel’el Ware (along with a potential leap from 24-year-old bench wing Pelle Larsson). As for Highsmith, who made the news a couple of years ago for a difficult off-court situation, he may be able to get more minutes on a rebuilding Nets team before hitting free agency in summer 2026.
