Heat’s Haywood Highsmith Out 8-10 Weeks After Undergoing Knee Surgery

The Miami Heat announced Friday that veteran forward Haywood Highsmith underwent successful surgery to repair a meniscal tear in his right knee.

Haywood Highsmith Will Likely Miss Start Of 2025-26 Regular Season

Highsmith sustained the injury during a recent offseason training session in his hometown of Baltimore. He will begin rehabilitation immediately and is expected to miss 8-10 weeks, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto.

Per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald, the 35-minute procedure was performed by Heat team physician Dr. Harlan Selesnick at Doctors Hospital Surgery Center in Miami.

Since Highsmith will be sidelined for at least two months, this means he will likely not be ready for the start of training camp and could also still be sidelined for the start of the 2025-26 regular season.

According to Basketball Reference, Highsmith has appeared in 213 regular-season games (80 starts) and played in 35 playoff games (zero starts) over his first four seasons with the Heat.

The 28-year-old Highsmith is preparing to enter his sixth NBA season.

Highsmith Joined The Heat During 2021-22 Season

After playing in 100 G League games and spending the 2020-21 season in the German Basketball Bundesliga, Highsmith joined the Heat on a 10-day contract during the 2021-22 season.

The Wheeling University product then inked a three-year deal with the team after putting up solid numbers, averaging 2.3 points and 1.4 rebounds while shooting 34.8% from the field.

Highsmith’s role in Miami has continued to grow since then, and he set career highs last season in games played (74), starts (42), and minutes per game (24.6).

In addition, he averaged a career-high 6.5 points and 1.5 assists to go along with 3.4 rebounds while shooting 45.8% from the floor and 38.2% from deep.

Miami Has 14 Players Signed To Standard Contracts

Per Spotrac, Highsmith is owed $5.6 million this upcoming season in the second and final year of his contract. He’s set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Highsmith is among the 14 players signed by the Heat to standard contracts. Miami still has one open standard roster spot since 15 players on standard contracts is the regular-season limit.

Meanwhile, Myron Gardner and Vlad Goldin are signed to two-way contracts. The third two-way slot remains open, and it could potentially be filled by a training camp player.

An Exhibit 10 contract in the NBA is a one-year, minimum salary contract that allows teams to convert it into a two-way contract before the start of the regular season.