The Miami Heat's trading of Haywood Highsmith and signing of Dru Smith appear questionable and misaligned with their strategy. The team's decision to offload Highsmith aims to cut payroll and avoid the luxury tax, yet they did not need to act immediately. The situation is compounded by the fact that they surrendered a future second-round pick to secure Highsmith's trade. Additionally, the signing of Dru Smith, who also has significant injury history, adds uncertainty, as keeping Highsmith would have provided more clarity regarding the team's future moves.
The Highsmith trade is being spun as Miami's way of skirting the luxury tax. That's partially true. Offloading his salary does get the Heat beneath the tax, but they didn't need to slide beneath that threshold now.
This decision looks even weirder (and, frankly, worse) knowing the Heat forked over a 2032 second-rounder to convince the Brooklyn Nets to take on a quintessential three-and-D contributor making under $6 million.
If it took this much to grease the wheels of a Highsmith dump, just imagine what it'd take to trade Terry Rozier right now.
Miami could have simply signed Smith and kept Highsmith. It would have provided more clarity about their direction and overall team strategy.
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