Heat can finally make their Klay Thompson dreams come true

After failing to find a trade partner for Klay Thompson, delaying his inevitable signing with the Miami Heat, the Mavericks agreed to a buyout with the 36-year-old, as first reported by Chris Haynes. A few minutes after that news broke, ESPN's Shams Charania swooped in and reported that the guard is expected to sign with the, you guessed it, Heat.

Nothing is official yet, as he still has to clear waivers, but it's no surprise that it's looking like he will end up in Miami. The Heat were waiting for the moment that he became an unrestricted free agent to land him, and it didn't take long for them to come out on top. Clearly, Thompson wants them as much as they want him.

Just a few days ago, Marc Stein said that Miami was "desperate" to land Klay, and that much was evident after the reports linking the Heat to the guard for the majority of the offseason.

They hold firm to their hope that he'd be there for the taking as a free agent, and that dream has finally come true, giving them another piece for what they hope will be a championship run with Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Klay Thompson expected to sign with the Heat

The real dream that came true for Miami this offseason was landing Antetokounmpo, but Thompson was right up there behind him. The $17.5 million he was set to make this upcoming season complicated things, but luckily, no team was willing to give the Mavericks anything in return.

Dallas could've let this thing drag on even longer. With Thompson, the Mavericks had 16 standard players under contract, a number they'd need to trim to 15 before opening night. Rather than delay it any longer, with Charania reporting that Thompson told Dallas he wanted to play for a contender, the team facilitated a buyout.

Thompson signed with the Mavericks two offseasons ago, thinking that it'd give him his best shot at competing for a fifth title, but that was a few months before Dallas sent Luka Dončić to Los Angeles. Their entire outlook shifted, and even though they have Cooper Flagg now and Kyrie Irving will be back, they won't be a top team in the West.

Klay understandably had his eye on Miami as a destination where he could win, made possible, of course, by the Antetokounmpo trade that changed the Heat's trajectory.

After years of missing out on the big fish, Miami has had the kind of offseason that puts it back in the spotlight, with Thompson falling in as one of the last pieces of the puzzle.

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