3 Miami Heat players that should be axed from the playoff rotation

3. Haywood Highsmith

Haywood Highsmith is already starting to see his role in the rotation diminish as the season comes to its final chapter. The 26-year-old forward has not played the last five games and he has not played more than 10 minutes since February 15.

This is simply the writing on the wall for what Spoelstra is going to do with Highsmith in the NBA Playoffs: hand him a heaping serving of DNPs. There is simply too much talent ahead of Highsmith and as long as the team stays healthy then Highsmith should stay on the bench.

Highsmith has played a tangible role on the Heat this season. He ranks ninth in total minutes played for the team and was averaging just under 24 minutes per game in the months of November and December.

While Highsmith is another example of the Heat getting something out of nothing, he simply has not been good enough to log anything other than extreme garbage-time minutes. He is good enough to hold his own on the defensive end but his offensive efficiency is simply too poor.

Miami’s net rating is four points worse when Highsmith is on the court versus when he is off the court this season. That is the icing on the cake to officially kick him out of the rotation for the time being.