We all saw it this week. Many of us were even surprised to learn that Haywood Highsmith would make his return from injury with us (meniscus surgery), signing a two‑year deal with Phoenix. Highsmith arrives as a gritty 3&D player shaped by Heat culture and by Erik Spoelstra over four seasons. It’s a profile that fits perfectly with the current identity of the Suns, both offensively and defensively, and we’re mostly going to focus on the defensive side of the floor.
So, we’re talking about a defensive wing with interesting measurements, nothing exceptional but solid: 6’7” with a 6’11” wingspan. Physically, he’s built similarly to Matisse Thybulle (the comparison is simply to show that he’s a completely viable defensive profile). He’s a technical defender more than an athletic one: he wins his matchups through reads and anticipation, not explosiveness or verticality, even though, as we’ll see, he does have some tools in that area.
He’s fully capable of defending positions 1 through 4. We’ve seen sequences where he guards Jayson Tatum, others where he’s on Shai Gilgeous‑Alexander, Paolo Banchero, or even Cade Cunningham. And it’s always with the same sobriety: he doesn’t overdo it, he doesn’t hunt miracle steals, chase‑down blocks, or late‑coming hero rotations; he stays in position, attached, absorbing contact before contesting with the same energy (whether it’s the first or the fourth quarter).
In short, what struck me after watching a good hundred clips is his contest and closeout quality, even against good shooters.
His lower‑body strength really holds up well against contact and post‑ups.
His ability to multitask in defense. Highsmith navigates screens, can cut off driving lanes, or on the contrary, defend with heavy pressure. Spoelstra often used his modularity.
His craftiness on help and passing lanes, and even when he gets blown by, he always has those little hands floating around trying to poke the ball loose.
However, he can struggle against creative or explosive first‑step players, but those weaknesses can be compensated for by the Suns’ defensive system.
Highsmith is not a highlight defender; he’s a defender of angles, details, micro‑decisions. The kind of player who doesn’t make noise but wins possessions. And that’s where this signing becomes coherent: the cost is minimal, his addition strengthens the bench behind Brooks, O’Neale, or Dunn, and there’s this natural fit with Phoenix in the sense that he’s a cerebral player, overflowing with hustle, who only wants one thing: keep the ball out of the basket without breaking or disrupting the ecosystem.
Statistically, it’s also very solid — even if that’s not what defines him, as we’ve seen — but you know my attraction to numbers. Over the last two seasons, Haywood sits around 1.1 BLK%, 1.8 STL%, and 2.6 STOP%. That’s good, but watch out for the fouls: around 10% foul rate on contests and close to 4 FOUL% per opponent possession. Nothing alarming, but it raises questions knowing he’s joining one of the most aggressive defensive teams in the league.
And as mentioned in the analysis of his game, he stands out mostly for his contest quality: in his career, he contests nearly 22 shots per 100 possessions, including 7 at the rim, forcing an average efficiency drop between –1% and –3.5%. Not incredible, but perfectly acceptable considering he was often assigned to tier‑1 and tier‑2 players in Miami.
Haywood Highsmith won’t transcend this roster, but his signing fits into a process aimed at stabilizing the team even further. We’ve just seen that defensively he’s very Ott‑compatible, but that’s also true offensively with his perimeter game. This surprise addition gets me hyped, and it reinforces my belief that Phoenix’s front office has been doing a very good job since this summer.