Haywood Highsmith cleared waivers and found his way back to Phoenix

Well, that didn’t take long, did it?

Less than a week after waiving Haywood Highsmith, the Phoenix Suns have re-signed him, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Five days ago, Phoenix opted to waive the veteran defensive specialist, who was owed $1 million on a contract that was not set to become fully guaranteed until January 10, 2027. Had Highsmith remained on the roster through that date, the deal would have become worth $3 million in total.

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Now, less than a week later, he’s back.

So what’s the reasoning behind this? Why would the Suns waive Highsmith only to bring him back for roughly the same amount? Certainly there have to be some mechanics involved that benefit both sides, right? Because if not, the $1 million that was owed to Highsmith before he was waived would simply be added to the Suns’ dead cap, pushing that total to $24.2 million.

I haven’t seen an updated cap sheet yet or any official details on how the new contract is structured, but my assumption is that it will be fully non-guaranteed. If that’s the case, the $1 million previously owed to Highsmith would remain part of the dead cap, while his new deal would give Phoenix greater flexibility moving forward.

So why do it? For starters, the Suns gave Highsmith an opportunity to test the market and see whether another team would offer him a fully guaranteed contract. Given his recent injury history, including missing nearly all of last season after meniscus surgery, there were legitimate concerns. He cleared waivers, nobody brought him in, and ultimately he returned to Phoenix.

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The Suns, meanwhile, may have created additional flexibility with the structure of the new deal. Had Highsmith remained on his previous contract, they already owed him $1 million, and that deal could have grown to $3 million if it had become fully guaranteed.

Under this new arrangement, Phoenix potentially avoids committing that additional money if Highsmith doesn’t make it to the guarantee date. If he does, the Suns have the room to keep him. That $3 million would hit the cap, but it wouldn’t necessarily create a major problem given where Phoenix already…

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Publish date : 2026-08-17 17:00:00

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