Miami Heat

It’s rare that NBA stars get perfect endings to their careers.

More often than not, we see Michael Jordan playing for a mediocre Wizards team, Tony Parker with the Hornets or Allen Iverson with the Grizzlies. Anticlimactic endings are commonplace. Klay Thompson was set to play out that trope on a rebuilding Mavericks team that will be interesting, but probably won’t make the playoffs this year.

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Thompson originally signed in Dallas with the thought that he would be playing alongside Luka Doncic on a perennial contender. Instead, he slogged through 56 losses last season. Thompson received a second chance at relevancy when the Miami Heat decided that they needed him.

He certainly needed the Heat.

The pairing made too much sense not to happen, which is why Thompson sacrificed money and took a buyout on his $17.5 million contract to join Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo in Miami.

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Does Clay Thompson still has gas left in the tank?

Thompson hasn’t made an All-Star team since tearing his ACL during the 2019 Finals. He wasn’t the same player after that injury, along with the Achilles tear that he suffered during his rehab.

Thompson was once a good defender who could switch across multiple positions. He has certainly lost a few steps at the age of 36. Now, he can only guard slower forwards.

Thompson’s scoring inside the 3-point line has also taken a precipitous nosedive. During his peak, he was a good paint finisher, ranking around the 80th percentile in rim field goal percentage. He rarely gets there now, and when he does, his 57 percent on those shots ranked in the bottom 14 percent of wings last season. His midrange shooting has similarly fallen off a cliff, going from the high 40s down to 31 percent.

Thompson may not be a great defender or three-level scorer anymore. But he still holds a record with 14 3s made in a single game, and that pure stroke isn’t going away any time soon. His 38 percent from 3 on 7.6 attempts per game is still a special skill that makes him a useful NBA player. And it will be a godsend for a Heat team that has major shooting issues.

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Why the Heat are the perfect landing spot for Klay Thompson

The Heat’s fortunes obviously shifted when they traded for Giannis Antetokounmpo. Vegas is still relatively low on them, though, setting their over/under at just 44.5 wins.

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That pessimism is a reflection of their lack of depth and roster construction issues. That number should rise after the addition of Thompson.

Thompson may not start for the Heat, but he will be an important part of their rotation. And he’s the best player that they could have acquired with their limited resources. They had the $5.4 million bi-annual exception available to add another free agent, which he is expected to take.

Miami is the ideal spot to hide Thompson’s defensive decline. Bam Adebayo and Giannis Antetokounmpo are both world-class defenders who have the mobility and rim protection to cover up other players’ mistakes. The Heat don’t need more stoppers on that roster. They need shooting, and Thompson provides it.

Erik Spoelstra will know how to get the most out of Thompson on both ends of the floor. He’s worked with a terrific movement shooter in Duncan Robinson before, maximizing the threat of Robinson’s shooting. And he’s hidden Robinson in the back of one of the league’s premier 2-3 zone defenses. That will likely be a technique that he repeats with Thompson.

Playing alongside Giannis should also help Thompson prolong his career. There isn’t a player in the league that is a bigger threat as a downhill driver. Giannis has helped a ton of his teammates have career years simply by hitting wide open looks when he draws the attention of entire defenses. Thompson is about to get the easiest looks of his life. 

Thompson is past the point of being a difference-maker. He’s not going to be the guy that takes the Heat from a plucky playoff team to NBA champions. What he will do is make the Heat pieces fit together better and hit some big shots throughout the year to win a handful of extra games. He can still reach back and throw that fastball once in a while, and he’ll get a chance to shine in Miami. 

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