Salary cap factored in Haywood Highsmith's return to Phoenix Suns

· Yahoo Sports

Haywood Highsmith rejoining the Phoenix Suns on a one-year contract for $3 million after being waived a week prior is a case of a smaller salary cap hit on the team.

The Arizona Republic confirmed the deal Aug. 17 with Highsmith’s agent, Jerry Dianis.

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The $3 million is the veteran minimum for seven years.

A 6-6, 220-pound forward, Highsmith is entering his seventh NBA season.

Highsmith had multiple teams interested in him before he re-signed with the Suns. His return puts Phoenix at 15 players on its standard 15-man roster.

Training camp begins Sept. 29. The Suns open the regular season Oct. 21 against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center.

Highsmith was on a two-year deal with the Suns that was set to pay him $3 million in his second year, but he was partially guaranteed $1 million for the 2026-27 season. That deal had a $3.1 million cap hit for the Suns.

This new deal will have a salary cap hit of $2.4 million because it’s a one-year deal. The Suns are over the first league tax apron, but under the second tax apron.

The previous contract also had Exhibit 3, which protects teams for players with preexisting injuries. Highsmith was coming off knee surgery on Aug. 8, 2025, to repair a right meniscus tear he suffered while training in his hometown of Baltimore when he was with the Miami Heat.

Before the 2025-26 season, the Heat traded Highsmith to the Brooklyn Nets, who didn’t play him and waived him before the trade deadline.

Highsmith then signed with the Suns, who had previously shown interest in him. Highsmith did return to action, but he only played seven games in the regular season for the Suns. The Suns have Exhibit 3 on Highsmith’s new one-year deal as well.

Known for his defensive versatility, toughness and physicality, Highsmith averaged 5.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and shot a career-high 57.1% from 3 in seven games.

He essentially missed a month of play under right knee injury management.

Highsmith played just nine minutes in a 116-104 loss on March 17 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second of a back-to-back during a six-game road trip.

He posted 16 points, a season-high, four rebounds, went 4-of-5 from 3 and took on the challenge of guarding All-Star Jaylen Brown against the Boston Celtics on March 16. The Suns lost, 120-112.

Highsmith then sat out 12 consecutive games before returning April 12 on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder to end the regular season.

He logged 10 minutes in Phoenix’s 111-96 home victory on April 17 over the Golden State Warriors in the Play-In Tournament for the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs.

Highsmith also played 11 total minutes in Game 1 and Game 3 of Phoenix’s first-round series against the Thunder, the top overall seed in the 2026 playoffs. Oklahoma City swept the Suns in four games.

Phoenix is projected to start Devin Booker and Jalen Green in the backcourt, Dillon Brooks, Miles Bridges and 7-footer Mark Williams in the frontcourt.

The Suns traded Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale and a 2033 unprotected first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets this summer for Bridges, a first-round pick in 2029 and a second-round pick in 2027.

The Suns also landed forward Koa Peat in the first round of the 2026 draft. A one-and-done talent out of Arizona, Peat averaged 16.8 points in four games of NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

Rasheer Fleming is entering his second NBA season after seeing meaningful minutes in the second half of his rookie season in Phoenix. Also playing in the summer league, Fleming averaged 12 points in four games in Vegas.

Highsmith was in Vegas with the entire Suns team during summer league as he attended games.

Between Ryan Dunn, who played 70 games last season, Brooks, Bridges, Peat, Fleming and Highsmith, the Suns have a more than solid collection of forwards. Dunn is entering his third NBA season.

The Suns could also elect to play two bigs from among Oso Ighodaro, 7-footer Khaman Maluach and Williams.

Ighodaro didn’t miss a game in his second NBA season, while Maluach shined in summer league, averaging a double-double of 19.5 points on 53.2% shooting, 12.8 rebounds and two blocks in four games. Maluach also shot 40% from 3 in Vegas. The 10th overall pick in the 2025 draft out of Duke, Maluach is entering his second NBA season.

The Suns have options, but head coach Jordan Ott liked Highsmith from his time with the Heat. Highsmith earned his reputation as a defender during his four seasons in Miami.

Ott used the word “trust” when talking about Highsmith and showed how much he had in him last season.

Highsmith’s first action came March 6 against the New Orleans Pelicans when Ott put him in the game with 11.7 seconds left on defensive rebound situation with the Suns up two. Phoenix won the game, 118-116, in the second of back-to-back in a five-game homestand.

This came after Phoenix couldn’t secure a defensive rebound late in a 105-103 loss on March 5 to the Chicago Bulls.

Maluach failed to completely box out forward Isaac Okoro on Nick Richard’s second free throw attempt with 4.4 seconds left and Phoenix down two. Okoro wound up tipping the ball away from the Suns.

Dunn saved it from going out of bounds, but Tre Jones caught the loose ball for the Bulls and threw it in the air as time expired.

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Salary cap factored in Haywood Highsmith's return to Phoenix Suns

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