Klay Thompson drops scary Heat & Giannis Antetokounmpo championship proclamation originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Just when everyone thought that the Miami Heat were already scary with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo, they got another daunting acquisition. Klay Thompson decided to join the party in South Beach so that he could get a fifth NBA championship under his belt. How confident is the former Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors sharpshooter that he will be able to play at a championship-level once again? Simply put, he is very certain.
Thompson proclaims big championship-level jump to help Antetokounmpo, HeatKlay Thompson has been far from his championship-caliber form for a while now. The last time that he was able to score more than 20 points on average in the regular season was during the 2022-23 NBA regular season, a year removed from the Warriors' most recent title run. Since then, he has settled for spot-up shooter roles and taught shooting mechanics to younger players on his squads. Thompson aims to change that with the Heat.
He plans to return to form heading into the 2026-27 NBA season and become the perfect complement to Giannis Antetokounmpo. The veteran sharpshooter declared all of this during his introductory press conference.
"I still think I can do it at a high level. Like you said, the durability has been, for me, a huge plus. You know, that's one thing that might have been questioned from all that time I had off. But, for me, all of those injuries are back in the past. I don't even think about them anymore. It's nice to be able to walk on the floor and play free-minded," Thompson declared.
In his most recent season with the Mavericks, Thompson looked like a shell of his former self. He hit a career-low average of 11.7 points while only knocking down 38.3% of his shots from three-point range. Despite that, he has shown strong durability by playing 69 regular-season games, which Antetokounmpo and the Heat could use in the coming season.
In the bigger picture, this move to acquire Thompson makes a lot of sense. With Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. now off the roster, the Heat need someone who can knock down shots. Schematically, Coach Erik Spoelstra has balanced out their inside and outside scoring. This is why the Heat ranked 10th in the league with their 36.4% field goal percentage. With Antetokounmpo joining the Heat, the need to have an elite spot-up shooter has become more apparent. This is because of the gravity the Greek Freak brings when driving inside the paint.
There is still so much to iron out in terms of rotations along with X's and O's. One thing is certain, however: the Heat need Thompson to equal his production from at least that 2022 Warriors NBA Championship run to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy.
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