The Miami Heat have already made one major splash this summer with Giannis Antetokounmpo, and they may not be done yet. Another name now hanging over their offseason is Klay Thompson, whose future with the Dallas Mavericks remains unsettled as the possibility of a buyout starts to loom.
Thompson has at least given Heat fans something to latch onto. On one of his recent Instagram posts, which showed him on the water and asking for directions to the disco, a Miami fan jumped into the comments with, “We got plenty of [discos]… come and join us,” and Thompson liked the reply. That alone doesn’t mean anything is finished, but it does suggest the idea of South Beach has crossed his radar.
Miami’s interest makes plenty of sense. The Heat are looking for shooting, and Thompson still brings that kind of value even if he is no longer the same elite marksman he once was.
Last season, he averaged 11.7 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game while shooting 39.3% from the field, numbers that show he can still give a team real minutes. If his health holds up, there’s still a path for his game to look better than it did a year ago.
That need lines up neatly with where Miami is right now. The Heat are in win-now mode and still need depth, and outside of Davion Mitchell and Andrew Wiggins, they do not have many true shooters on the roster. Thompson would fill that hole, but getting him is not simple with one year and $17.4 million left on his deal.
Shams Charania laid out the situation on NBA Today, saying, “The Miami Heat’s number one priority right now is to acquire shooting. And they found their No. 1 target for that: Klay Thompson,” and added, “The problem is Klay Thompson has one year left on his Mavs contract, so they’re exploring whether they can trade for him, whether this could end up in a buyout; we’ll see over the next several weeks.”
A buyout would obviously make things cleaner for Miami. Thompson would be able to join on no more than the veteran’s minimum, which would let the Heat plug him into the rotation quickly without much risk. If Dallas goes the trade route instead, Miami would need to send salary back and probably include second-round picks to make the deal work.
For now, the exact path is still unclear. But the Heat and Thompson both appear open to the idea, and a return to the Warriors is still on the table as well. At this point in his career, every option seems alive, and what comes next could shape how the rest of his post-Warriors story is judged.
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