The Klay Thompson experiment in Dallas is over. Now the Mavericks just have to find someone to take him.
Reports out this week confirm Dallas is exploring the trade market for the four-time champion, who has one year left on his deal at $17.5 million. He becomes an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2027, which means he is essentially an expiring contract with a Hall of Fame resume attached.
Miami is the name that keeps coming up. Klay would fit their spacing needs. Pat Riley loves veterans who have won. The Heat also would love to just wait Dallas out for a buyout rather than pay in a trade.
The Miami Angle
The Heat have not made real progress on a trade because they think the Mavericks eventually cave and cut Klay. That is the smart play from Miami’s side. Why trade an asset when you can wait a couple months and get him for the veteran minimum?
Dallas is trying to avoid exactly that outcome. They would rather flip Klay’s contract for something useful before it becomes a sunk cost. Nico Harrison already ate one national embarrassment with the Luka trade. He does not need another one where Klay walks for nothing.
The LA Return Nobody Saw Coming
Klay grew up in Los Angeles. He owns a home there. He has said openly he would welcome heading back.
The Clippers make sense on paper, but they cannot make a real move right now. The salary cap circumvention investigation involving Kawhi Leonard has their entire team in a holding pattern. Nobody is doing serious business with LA until Adam Silver figures out what he is doing with the Kawhi situation.
A three-team framework has been kicked around that would move Klay to the Clippers with Dallas landing draft capital. Until the Kawhi mess clears, that is a fantasy.
The Golden State Homecoming
Here is what Klay said out loud last month. “Shoot I don’t know. I got one year on my deal. It’d be nice to end it in Golden State.”
You do not say that by accident. That is a player putting a marker down.
The Warriors have cap issues and a roster that already has Steph and Draymond eating salary. Bringing Klay back would be logistically annoying and emotionally perfect. Steve Kerr would run him out there for 20 minutes a night, let him take shots, and let the crowd give him the reception he never really got before he left.
What Klay Actually Is at This Point
He averaged 11.7 points on 39.3 percent shooting last year. He shot 38.3 percent from three across 69 games. He is 36 years old and he is not the two-way monster he was in 2018.
But he still moves without the ball better than most guards in this league. He still spaces the floor. In a playoff series, he can still get hot and win a quarter by himself.
The Heat probably win out here through patience. If Dallas cannot find a trade partner in the next month, Klay is getting bought out and Miami is where he lands. Golden State would be the emotional pick. Miami is the roster fit. Bet on Riley.
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.
