The Los Angeles Lakers made a few upgrades this summer to support their generational tandem of 5-time All-NBA First Team selection Luka Dončić and 21-time All-Star LeBron James, but their work is far from over.
Los Angeles brought in both Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart as key offseason acquisitions who fill very specific roles for this iteration of the squad, but losing 3-and-D forward Dorian Finney-Smith to the Houston Rockets in free agency might cause a few more problems than expected in 2025-26.
In an effort to fill the space created by Finney-Smith’s unfortunate departure, there’s a chance that the Lakers’ general manager Rob Pelinka gets creative while scouring the trade market for a replacement. If Pelinka wishes to find a suitable reserve forward option, Haywood Highsmith of the Brooklyn Nets could stand out as a perfect target.
To get a trade of this nature across the finish line, Pelinka would likely have to give up a package consisting of the Lakers’ former No. 17 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft Dalton Knecht along with another young piece like incoming rookie forward Adou Thiero to appease the rebuilding Nets.
Highsmith started to become a core piece of the rotation as a former member of the Miami Heat from 2021-2025, specifically showing vast improvement in his three-point shooting efficiency over the past two seasons.
The versatile 6-foot-7 forward connected on a combined 38.9% of his 3.0 three-point looks from 2023-2025 while developing steadily as a defender, but the Heat chose to deal Highsmith and a 2032 second-round pick to the Nets this summer in a trade to land a protected 2026 second-rounder and duck under the luxury tax threshold.
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If Highsmith were acquired to act as an underrated two-way weapon off of the bench for the Lakers under head coach JJ Redick, he could certainly assist both Dončić and James in a huge way next season.
Spanning 74 regular season appearances and 42 starts for the Heat this past season, Highsmith posted a 38.2% shooting clip from distance and a net-positive 0.9 defensive box plus-minus.
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