The Miami Heat could be open to a trade for Klay Thompson. In fact, with the way it's being reported now, they may be flat-out pursuing one. And it's one trade update that could end up changing everything for the Heat heading into the first-year build around Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Over the last few weeks, the Heat has been subtly linked to Thompson. However, much of that speculation centered around the possibility of a buyout. That may suddenly have changed.
Recently, there have been two reports that have indicated the Heat may (or could) be pursuing a trade for Thompson. It does give a sense that Miami may have, all of a sudden, ramped up its aggressiveness in its pursuit of the elite shooter.
The Heat may be about to aggressively pursue Klay Thompson
First, it was ESPN's Shams Charania who floated the idea of the Heat's interest in a trade for Thompson. NBA insider then echoed much of that same sentiment.
“The Miami Heat’s number 1 priority right now is to acquire shooting. They found their number 1 target. That’s Klay Thompson. The problem is Klay has 1 year left on his contract so they’re exploring whether they can trade for him, or whether this could end up in a buyout. We’ll see over the next several weeks.” - Shams Charania
"I do think there could be some possibility that there can be a trade of Klay Thompson to Miami."
Over the last day or so, there's certainly been a shift in the energy surrounding the Heat's potential pursuit of Thompson. At this point, you can't help but wonder if any of that has to do with LeBron James' decision.
After spurning the Heat to sign with the rival Philadelphia 76ers, maybe the Heat suddenly feel much more urgency to make another splash move around Giannis and Bam Adebayo. On paper, that would make sense.
And looking across the landscape of the league, there may not be a free agent available that would satisfy the Heat's appetite for such an upgrade. With the offseason well dried up, it wouldn't be that shocking for Miami to turn up the heat (no pun intended) on the pursuit of Thompson.
Does Pat Riley have one more splash move up his sleeve?
Of course, just because the Heat intend to be more aggressive in their pursuit of Thompson doesn't mean they're going to land him.
They'll still need the Dallas Mavericks to play ball if the Heat go down that route. But that's another conversation for another day.
The bottom line is that it appears something has recently shifted for the Heat, and they're about to be much more aggressive in their attempts to land an elite shooter next to Giannis and Bam. If Riley (and the Heat's front office) can pull this splash move off, it will certainly change a ton for Miami heading into the start of the season.
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