Overview
- Following the Highsmith trade and Smith’s three-year deal, the Heat sit at 14 standard players and would cross the tax line by signing a 15th now, with an early-December window to add a prorated minimum or sooner via a trade or waive-and-stretch.
- The Miami Herald reports the team is not expected to add a backup center on a standard contract soon, with options limited to another trade or using the open two-way slot on a veteran big who qualifies.
- Miami sent Haywood Highsmith and a 2032 second-round pick to Brooklyn for a heavily protected second, a move driven by tax savings as Smith’s 2025-26 cap/tax hit counts for less than half of Highsmith’s number.
- The frontcourt remains thin with Bam Adebayo and rookie Kel'el Ware as the only true centers, while two-way signee Vlad Goldin lacks NBA experience and does not project as a ready rotation option.
- Smith returns on a three-year, roughly $7.9 million contract after ACL and Achilles injuries, adding to a crowded guard group that could narrow rookie Kasparas Jakucionis’s path to early minutes.