How the Heat can make Klay Thompson comfortable from the jump

Coach Erik Spoelstra kicked off the introductory presser, gushing about the four-time champion sitting to his left. He anticipates lots of eyeballs on the team in 2026-27 and he says, it’s what they wanted.

The hype is mounting and more of it has to do with bringing in Klay Thompson, who is fourth all-time in 3-point makes. He’s one of the best shooters who ever lived, and he’s easily going to have 90 percent of his 3-point attempts be open to wide-open, considering the attention his teammates generate. His transition into the offense should be seamless regardless of what system is run, but there is one way to get him comfortable quickly: make split action a staple.

Bam Adebayo and Giannis Antetokounmpo are not dependable outside shooters, but that makes this play more dangerous if one of them is the initiator, passing the ball to the post. After one of them passes it, they immediately move to screen someone on the outside, in this case, Thompson.

Since the passer is not a deep threat, his defender is going to sag off deeper, and will have to cover more ground as soon as the catch is made behind the screen. A quick trey is only attacking avenue it could bring, as Thompson could hold onto it, dribbling closer to the rack for a layup or to establish the passer as a cutter.

Another way is to make Thompson the screener for Antetokounmpo on inverted screen roll sets. Anytime that someone sets a good screen, they are going to get open. This becomes tougher to guard when trying to cover someone as tall and fast as Antetokounmpo because he naturally draws a second defender after crossing the perimeter. He could flick it to Thompson for easy looks.

Furthermore, putting him in misdirection would be nightmarish for rivals. For example, using him also as the screener in a stagger or horns set, while making the cutter or ball handler the decoy, would make it too easy for him to slip out for jumpers.

Naturally, his connection with Andrew Wiggins on the 2021-22 Golden State Warriors championship team should ensure they see plenty of minutes together, especially early on in the year. He, alongside Davion Mitchell, Antetokounmpo, Adebayo and Pelle Larsson, should be the main five getting minutes with Thompson to cover for his defensive weakness.

At one point in time, he was among the league’s best disruptors but the ACL and Achilles tendon injuries in 2019 and 2020 robbed him off his lateral quickness. He'll have his moments because he is an intelligent player with good timing, but he's best suited guarding a weak ball handler, which could be a shooter or a big man who is primarily a roller.

Thompson said the opportunity to play high-level ball and go on a deep postseason run attracted him to Miami. At the same time, it also feels like he is on a mission to get respect back. It didn't work out for him in Dallas, but playing Ray Allen's role will be a nice fit in Miami.

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