Klay Thompson Signs With Heat After Giving Up Nearly 10 Million Dollars in Mavericks Buyout
Klay Thompson wanted out of Dallas so badly he left almost 10 million dollars on the table to get there. That is not a footnote in the story. That is the story.
The five-time All-Star officially got bought out by the Mavericks this week and quickly signed a two-year, 11.5 million dollar deal with the Miami Heat once he cleared waivers. Shams Charania reported that the second year includes a player option, giving Thompson flexibility to hit free agency again next summer.
The eye-popping number is on the Dallas side. Per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Thompson gave back roughly 9.8 million dollars to make the buyout happen. That is more than half of the 17.5 million dollars he was owed by the Mavericks for the 2026-27 season.
For context, most NBA buyouts see players give up 20 to 30 percent of what is left on their deal. Thompson gave up close to 60 percent. That is a player desperate to leave.
Why the urgency? Dallas was reportedly content to hold him into the season to see if his value went up on the trade market. Thompson did not want to spend three months in Mavericks limbo, deep on the bench, waiting for a trade that may or may not have materialized. Miami had been circling him for months and had reportedly earmarked its taxpayer midlevel exception for him.
Once Thompson cleared waivers, the Heat pounced. He gets Miami’s culture, Miami’s playing time, and a chance to reset his career narrative in a place that historically has been very good at extending the careers of veterans.
The Heat needed shooting. Bam Adebayo has been begging for spacing around him for years. Andrew Wiggins is a slasher, Jimmy Butler is gone, and Tyler Herro is Tyler Herro. Adding a five-time All-Star and four-time NBA champion who has taken 3,700-plus career three-pointers is a real answer to a real problem.
What Miami is not getting is peak Klay. The version of Thompson that torched the Portland Trail Blazers for 60 points in three quarters is gone. But the version that can knock down open threes off Adebayo screens and provide veteran leadership in a playoff series? That version is exactly what the Heat needed.
Erik Spoelstra will figure out how to weaponize him. Miami’s coaching staff has turned much lesser shooters into playoff difference-makers. Give them a Hall of Fame shooter and a chance to hunt him against switches, and Thompson could easily average 14-16 points a night in a smart role.
The Heat now sit at 13 filled roster spots and can build out the rest of the depth chart around Adebayo, Thompson, Wiggins, Herro, and their young core. That is a competitive playoff team in the Eastern Conference, especially with LeBron James and the Sixers, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Miami’s other Southeast rivals reshaping the top of the league.
For Thompson, this is essentially a reset. He gave up money, sacrificed pride, and left a franchise that never quite figured out how to use him. Now he gets a fresh start with a team that knows exactly what it wants from him. That is worth the pay cut.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
