Klay Thompson thought he was chasing a fifth NBA championship ring when he left the Golden State Warriors for the Dallas Mavericks in 2024. Two years later, the Mavs are rebuilding around Cooper Flagg and Thompson is signing with the Miami Heat.
At age 36, Thompson isn’t the same player he once was. But he’s a year younger than Ray Allen was when he joined the Heat in 2012, which led to an NBA title.
Klay Thompson can still shoot the three
Thompson is only 74 three-pointers behind Allen for third place on the NBA’s all-time three-pointers list. Last season, he still made 2.9 threes per game on 38.3 percent shooting, despite playing on a Mavericks team woefully thin on outside shooting.
That’s also the case for the Heat, though Giannis Antetokounmpo and “Mr. 83 Points” Bam Adebayo should free up space for Thompson by commending double teams inside. After the departures of Tyler Herro and Norman Powell, Thompson’s buyout from the Mavericks allows the Heat to add a second veteran sharpshooter, after inking Tim Hardaway, Jr.
On the defensive end, Thompson is more of a liability, having lost speed and agility after tearing his ACL and Achilles tendon in consecutive years. But the Heat have two monster defenders inside, a strong defensive point guard in Davion Mitchell and Erik Spoelstra’s coaching to cover for him.
Veteran shooters have thrived with Miami Heat
Allen signed with the Heat in 2012 and sank 139 threes in 79 games, on 41.9 percent shooting. He added 39 more triples in the Heat’s run to the 2013 title, including perhaps the biggest three-pointer in NBA history to send Game 6 of the NBA Finals to overtime, where the Heat would win to even the series.