Florida Notes: Highsmith, Rozier, Magic, Carter

Heat forward Haywood Highsmith is embracing his role as a utility player for Miami, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

Highsmith has been elevated in the club’s hierarchy thanks in part to the free agent exit of now-Sixers wing Caleb Martin this summer. After Martin’s departure, the Heat pivoted to re-signing their other top free agent, Highsmith, on a two-year, $10.8MM deal.

“I can’t say enough about H,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But the tough thing about this league is you have somebody like H, who has really played at an exceptionally high level in that role as a defender, as an impact role player that fills in all the intangibles for your team. But if he’s not scoring big numbers, nobody is really going to pay attention, nobody is going to notice, nobody is going to write articles about him.”

Playing mostly off the Heat’s bench, the 6’7″ swingman is averaging a career-high 8.6 points on .625/.417/.636 shooting splits, along with 3.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals per night.

There’s more out of the Sunshine State:

• Heat starting point guard Terry Rozier has struggled mightily thus far this season. Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun-Sentinel wonders if a transition to Miami’s bench would put him in a better position to be effective. The 30-year-old is averaging 13.3 points per game on .385/.358/.880 shooting splits, his lowest output since 2018/19.
• Even without All-Star power forward Paolo Banchero, the Magic posted a 5-0 record during a recent homestand. Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel unpacks what went right during that undefeated run, singling out frontcourt standouts Franz Wagner and Moritz Wagner, the club’s defense, and its ability to clean the glass.
• Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley stated on Sunday that starting center Wendell Carter, who’s been out for the past seven games with left foot plantar fasciitis, continues to improve. “He’s doing better,” Mosley said after today’s practice, Beede reports (Twitter link). In his six healthy games this season, the 25-year-old is averaging 8.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.3 steals per bout.