Miami Heat Willing To Wait on Mavericks for Klay Thompson

Now that LeBron James has made his decision to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers, the rest of the NBA can now go about filling out their rosters.

The Miami Heat have a lot of filling out to do, as the trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo has left their roster with just 12 players. They'll need to add at least two more players to be roster-compliant, but a lot of teams want to carry the full 15 players.

The popular name for them continues to be Dallas Mavericks sharpshooter Klay Thompson. The Mavericks would like to explore trade options for the future Hall-of-Famer, but it seems like the Heat are willing to be patient on a solution.

“The Heat has strong interest in veteran guard Klay Thompson… It appears that the Heat will remain patient in filling out the rest of its roster to give Thompson time to possibly shake free through a buyout agreement," Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald reported.

"While a trade for Thompson is also possible, it would be challenging to pull off considering the only three players on the Heat’s current roster able to be traded for Thompson in a one-for-one deal are Nikola Jovic, Davion Mitchell, and Bobby Portis."

Miami probably has no interest in moving on from either Portis or Mitchell, who figure to be big pieces of their rotation, but moving Jovic could be a possibility.

Jovic has yet to really contribute to the Heat, never playing more than 47 games in a season, but he's entering the first year of a four-year, $62 million extension.

I mentioned three possible three-team trades that could send Thompson to Miami and Jovic to a third team, as Dallas likely doesn't have much interest in him.

Mar 27, 2026; Portland, Oregon, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Klay Thompson (31) looks on during the second half against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Dallas Mavericks Can Wait as Long as Needed

The Dallas Mavericks have no reason to buy Thompson's contract out. They're below the tax line and already full on roster spots, so while they do need to go from 16 players to 15, it benefits them more to wait for a trade to come up.

ESPN's NBA insider Shams Charania mentioned that multiple contending teams are interested in Thompson, so the Mavericks should wait until a trade offer comes across the table that makes sense.

There's always the possibility that Thompson goes to the front office to negotiate a buyout, but he'd likely have to give up a significant part of his contract for it to make sense to the Mavericks.

Still, Thompson has handled his Dallas tenure with the ultimate professionalism. While Masai Ujiri doesn't owe him anything since he didn't sign him, it would make sense if it gets to the point for the Mavericks to "do right" by Thompson.

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