Veteran wing Klay Thompson was waived by the Mavericks on Friday following a buyout agreement. The 36-year-old, who won four titles with Golden State, is expected to join the Heat on a two-year deal worth around $13MM.
Thompson will be Miami’s 13th player under standard contract, and free agent center Nick Richards has “emerged as a player of considerable interest” for the 14th roster spot, reports Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
However, Richards is mulling offers from multiple teams, per Jackson, and it’s unclear if one of those clubs has offered him more guaranteed money than the Heat.
As Jackson confirmed on Wednesday, Richards has been working out in Miami with Heat players. Evidently he has impressed in those workouts, as Jackson reported at the time that Miami was still evaluating the 28-year-old.
According to Jackson, the Heat are targeting a big man — a center or a power forward — with their 14th spot and have two other centers on their radar as well. The identity of those players is not yet known.
Jackson suggests Miami might choose to wait until later this month to see if any big men get waived by August 29 at 4:00 pm CT, which is the deadline for players to be cut and clear waivers by August 31. The latter date is the deadline to use the stretch provision on a player’s contract.
Here’s more on the Heat:
Free agent forward Keshad Johnsonwho has spent the past two years with the Heat after going undrafted in 2024, has continued to workout with the team and is a candidate to return on either a standard deal or a two-way contract, according to Jackson.
Jackson reiterates that Gabe Vincent is on the Heat’s radar too (Twitter link), but based on the reported terms of Thompson’s deal, the Heat won’t be able to add a 15th man until after the regular season starts because they don’t have enough space below their first-apron hard cap. And it sounds like signing a guard is considered a lesser priority at the moment.
The $5.6MM traded player exception the Heat created when they dealt Haywood Highsmith to Brooklyn last summer expired on Aug. 18, notes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. As Winderman observes, the Heat have let 10 of their past 12 TPEs expire without being used.