The most puzzling move the Phoenix Suns made this offseason was bringing back Haywood Highsmith after playing only nine games for the franchise. Yet, he might just be the best 15th man in the entire NBA.
Highsmith the perfect end of bench player for the Suns
Coach Jordan Ott crafted a top-10 defense in his first season in charge, and having a workhorse like Highsmith as the last man on this roster is such a luxury. He won't be called into action often - he easily could have made this particular list - but when he is, you know the 29-year-old is going to give his all.
Yes, the Suns were considerably worse when Highsmith was on the court last season, giving up 116.1 points compared to 112.9 as a team, but the sample size of 91 minutes was tiny. He is a better on-ball defender than those numbers suggest, and watching him play for five minutes easily confirms this.
Highsmith is the forward version of Jamaree Bouyea in the sense that both surfaced unexpectedly in Phoenix and are fighting for their NBA lives. Bouyea did a brilliant job of proving he can be a third-string guard last time out, and Highsmith will do the same when given the opportunity.
So much has been made of the team starting both Dillon Brooks and Miles Bridges, while Oso Ighodaro, Rasheer Fleming, and Koa Peat will all be looking to earn minutes. Yet, that trio is all in the early stages of their careers, while Highsmith has been around since 2018 and has experienced plenty of ups and downs (mostly downs). That makes him at least interesting.
Highsmith will be given opportunity to impress
If the fit between Brooks and Bridges hits a rough patch, Highsmith is the perfect established player to settle the group down again. He is nowhere near the offensive talent that Bridges is, but that would be helpful because he would defer to Brooks and Devin Booker and feed off scraps on that end of the court.
Defensively, he is undersized for certain matchups, but if the Suns want to go smaller, he is an ideal forward to have alongside Brooks. Coach Ott could also deploy him with Ighodaro, a duo that makes much more sense on paper but would struggle to add much of a scoring punch.
There is going to come a time this season when the Suns need to shake things up and introduce some chaos to a game. Haywood Highsmith will be the solution.
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