Ceiling and floor for Haywood Highsmith’s role in 2022-23
Miami Heat player Omer Faruk Yurtseven (L) and Haywood Highsmith (R) warm up ahead of the NBA match between Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat
(Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The Miami Heat were left with a gaping hole this offseason, as P.J. Tucker decided to go join Joel Embiid and his Houston cohorts, Daryl Morey and James Harden, in Philadelphia. Spurning the Miami Heat after one very successful year, they have to figure out a way to replace or at least, get close to, Tucker’s immense contributions on both sides of the floor.
There are a few options there.
They could, of course, hit the trade market if they strike out on a guy like Kevin Durant, taking more of a mid to lower-tiered approach to get a good forward in the building.
Then again, if they land Durant, you can find a way to let that compensate for Tucker’s exodus. Assuredly.
But then, there are a few guys on the Miami Heat’s current roster that, even if they can’t do exactly what Tucker did for the Heat last season, can give you some or enough of that same thing to take a lot of that burden off the team.
