Chasing a fifth ring, the legendary sharpshooter details why joining Giannis Antetokounmpo in Miami offered a championship window that his rebuilding tenure in Dallas simply couldn't provide.
DALLAS - After being bought out by the Dallas Mavericks on Friday, Klay Thompson quickly found his new home - surprise! - by agreeing to a two-year deal with the Miami Heat.
Yes, we're being sarcastic.
The contract, first reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania, is for $13 million and includes a player option in the second season. ... and was all along in the works for the ol' "Splash Brother.''
And now the four-time NBA champion is speaking out about the move.
“Just the opportunity to play high-level basketball throughout the season and the chance to make a deep postseason run,” Thompson said of his motivation for seeking an exit from Dallas. “Those things were so attractive to me. … I’ve tasted winning before and there’s really nothing like it. …
"The opportunity to win again at a very high level was so attractive to me.”
For Thompson, who appeared in 69 games for the Mavericks last season while averaging 11.7 points per contest, this isn't really meant as a "parting shot'' or an insult to his Mavs time.
But frankly ...
Thompson is at this moment in time better suited to play for the Heat than the Mavericks because Miami is a title contender and Dallas is ...
Well, rebuilding.
We hope.
The Heat acquired Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Milwaukee Bucks this summer, pairing the two-time MVP with All-Star big man Bam Adebayo. Miami also has Andrew Wiggins, Thompson’s old teammate on the Golden State Warriors, and veterans Bobby Portis, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Davion Mitchell.
How do the Mavs stack up against that?
The Mavericks, who missed the playoffs in 2025 and 2026, have a young building block in Cooper Flagg, who won the 2025-26 Rookie of the Year award. And Kyrie Irving seems ready to return from a long stint on the injury list.
However, Dallas isn’t close to competing for a championship.
And Miami just might be.
After spending the first 11 years of his career with the Warriors, Thompson signed with the Mavericks in the summer of 2024 with the intention of being a sidekick to Luka Doncic and Irving.
That never panned out, with Luka being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in February 2025 in what is considered the worst swap in NBA history.
But now?
Klay gets to play with Antetokounmpo, the 2021 Finals MVP.
“He’s just an incredible talent who has a great will to win,'' Klay said of "The Greek Freak.'' "And I love being around guys like that who leave it out on the floor and really care about their craft. And that’s what attracted me too was just like wow, I get to play with another MVP-caliber player.”
Thompson holds career averages of 18.6 points per game in the regular season and 19.2 points per game in the playoffs. He helped the Warriors win championships in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022 and he's a future Hall of Famer ...
With his time in Dallas destined to be a blip on his career radar screen.
