The latest on the Miami Heat's interest in Klay Thompson

The Miami Heat made their biggest move of the last 15 years when they acquired Giannis Antetokounmpo in late June. The consensus opinion afterwards was that the Heat needed more three-point shooting volume.

They responded by signing Tim Hardaway Jr., drafting Ryan Conwell and bringing back Andrew Wiggins and Simone Fontecchio. Now, it seems they've got their eye on a different notable three-point sniper.

"The Heat are eyeing Klay Thompson," The Stein Line and Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer stated in a livestream on Tuesday afternoon. "However, I do believe, and have been told, that this scenario would only be in the event that Dallas came to a buyout agreement for Klay Thompson, where he is in the final year of a three year contract he signed to originally be Luka Doncic's teammate."

REPORT: The Miami Heat only have interest in Klay Thompson is he is bought out, per @JakeLFischer

“I have been told that this scenario would only be in the event that Dallas came to a buyout agreement for Klay Thompson.”

Jake says as of now he hasn’t heard that a buyout is in… https://t.co/BtbL7xUyLU pic.twitter.com/oSQy3YqCIB
— Heat Central (@TheHeatCentral) July 14, 2026

This comes not long after Five Reasons Sports (and the Five on the Floor podcast) and then the Miami Herald reported the Heat's "strong interest" in the legendary marksman.

"It's a three year, $50 million deal that is still set to pay him $17.4 million this season, which is a quite a pretty penny that I would be surprised to see Klay Thompson want to give up right now. I think there would be a lot of teams, in addition to Miami, that would be interested in Klay Thompson if he were to find a buyout market. But again, at this point, I don't think anyone is really so interested in trading for Klay Thompson at that salary number at this point in time."

It seems like the Dallas Mavericks might be trying to gauge the trade market for Thompson's expiring contract before resorting to a potential buyout, in which Thompson would have to give up some of his 2025-2026 salary to become an unrestricted free agent and sign where he pleases.

The easiest way to get to a potential framework for a Thompson trade would be to swap him for Nikola Jovic and the four-year extension owed to him starting in 2026-2027, since their salaries are not far off from each other.

However, the Mavericks would likely ask for the Heat's last remaining [valuable] sweetener, their 2029 first round pick, which would be traded conditionally. This is because they currently owe their 2027 first round pick to the Charlotte Hornets, top-14 protected. If the pick doesn't convey in 2027, it would convey in 2028, which would keep the Heat from being able to convey their 2029 first rounder.

This is almost definitely a factor as to why the Heat would reportedly only be interested in Thompson if he were bought out.

"So will the buyout thing come, you know, next couple weeks as we get closer to the regular season? Anything's possible. Right now. , Tuesday, July 14th, I haven't heard of that as something that's in the works, but it's it's important to consider that getting back-channel word or just some type of birdie telling you, whispering down the lane that if you were to find a buyout, you'd have a home here with this kind of role, that type of stuff does end up sometimes being the precursor."

Although the four-time champ is no longer the premiere perimeter defender he was in his prime, he'd still be better in that aspect than some of the sharpshooters the Heat have deployed in the past. Not to mention, he can still shoot it at a high level.

In 2025-2026, Thompson averaged 11.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists, converting on 38.3 percent of his three point attempts. The season before, Thompson averaged 14 points, 3.4 rebounds and two assists, converting on 39 percent of his threes.

Digging a little deeper into his three point shooting over the past couple of seasons, it's notable, but not surprising, that his production was up in the time he got to play with a superstar playmaker in Doncic, averaging about 15 points on 40.6 percent three-point shooting in the 21 games he played alongside Doncic before the franchise player was suddenly traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Additionally, Thompson shot about 42 percent on catch-and-shoot threes and 46 percent on wide open threes in 2024-2025, compared to about 38 percent for both categories this past season without Doncic.

Another positive indicator regarding Thompson's fit with a bonafide playmaker, Thompson's lineup data with Doncic was very nice, wherein lineups featuring both of them outscored opponents by almost six points per 100 possessions.

It is also somewhat interesting that his uncle, Andy Thompson, principal videographer and executive producer of the Michael Jordan documentary, 'The Last Dance', has been gathering footage for LeBron James' reported documentary over the next coming season(s).

Of course, the Heat are currently in hot pursuit of the four-time Finals MVP, going toe-to-toe with the Cleveland Cavaliers and other teams. Additionally, In the 2024 offseason, it was reported that James was willing to take a paycut for the Los Angeles Lakers to be able to offer Thompson a competitive contract at the mid-level, before Thompson ended up signing with the Mavericks.

Alexander Toledo is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI and producer/co-host of the Five on the Floor podcast, covering the Heat and NBA. He can be reached at @tropicalblanket on Twitter.

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