Making a trade to get out of the luxury tax in August has been difficult for Miami Heat fans to wrap their head around. And because of their impatience, the Heat may have missed out on a golden opportunity to emerge as a premier seller at the 2026 NBA Trade Deadline.
In the specific instance of Haywood Highsmith, the Heat missed out on the chance to acquire a true asset for him at the NBA Trade Deadline. Instead of waiting out that process, the Heat forced their hand by needing to attach an asset of their own to get out from under Highsmith's contract.
A missed opportunity for the Heat
While the Heat may have accomplished their goal to get under the luxury tax line, the Heat mishandled yet another asset.
Instead of waiting for Highsmith to recover from injury and likely rebuild his trade value ahead of the NBA Trade Deadline, the Heat move on from him now because they seemingly were motivated to get under the luxury tax line before the start of the season.
The crime isn't parting ways with Highsmith; it's the fact that the Heat didn't get anything in exchange for him. And, instead, took a loss in the process. Considering how much time and effort the Heat's developmental staff put into Highsmith over the past few years, this is an unacceptable practice.
That's been the Heat's big problem of late. Over the course of the last three offseasons, the Heat has lost Caleb Martin, Max Strus, Gabe Vincent, Duncan Robinson, and now Highsmith for virtually nothing of value in exchange. Oh, wait, I'm sorry. The Heat did get a second-round pick in exchange for Strus, and then added Simone Fontecchio in a sign-and-trade for Robinson early this summer.
Still, that's not great asset management.
The Heat have made tax savings their priority this summer
The common variables in all those circumstances revolved around the Heat's stubbornness in ducking the luxury tax, or at least their desire to do so at some point in the future.
To a certain extent, it's fair. The Heat didn't want to dip their toes too much into the luxury tax for a team that wasn't in a position to win an NBA Championship, despite their miracle run in 2023. It's hard to blame them. However, the Heat's inability to foresee losing all of these assets for nothing is where they've dropped the ball the most.
The fact that they managed to do it twice this season won't sit well with the fan base that has been calling out this huge flaw for a while now.
If the Heat don't want to pay the luxury tax for a mediocre team, that's fine. It's perfectly understandable. What the fans want is for the Heat to display better asset management. They've yet to prove that. That's what often leads to these pointless salary dumps that end up costing them assets.
And whether the Heat are willing to admit it or not, they've missed out on a few big opportunities over the last couple of years to capitalize on the success of their developmental system. After making a truly head-scratching trade of Highsmith, with his trade value at an all-time low, it appears the Heat are set to miss another one of those chances.