Klay Thompson Reaches Buyout with Mavericks, Set to Join Miami Heat

Klay Thompson is expected to sign with the Miami Heat after reaching a buyout agreement with the Dallas Mavericks, ending a two-year tenure in Texas that yielded 141 regular-season appearances but no playoff action for the guard, according to league reports.

Buyout Agreement Ends Two-Year Dallas Tenor

The Dallas Mavericks officially announced on Friday that they reached a buyout agreement with Klay Thompson, releasing the 36-year-old guard from the final year of his contract. Thompson was set to earn $17.46 million during the 2026–27 NBA season before negotiations concluded to terminate the deal.

“Klay is one of the great players and competitors of his generation, and we are grateful for everything he brought to the Mavericks organization,” Mavericks president Masai Ujiri said in a statement released by the franchise. “We have tremendous respect for Klay and all that he has accomplished throughout his career, and we wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”

Thompson arrived in Dallas during the summer of 2024 following 13 seasons and four NBA championships with the Golden State Warriors. Across 141 regular-season games with the Mavericks, he hit 418 three-pointers, the most of any player on the roster during that span. He started 72 games during the 2024–25 season before transitioning to a bench role this past year, appearing in 69 contests with eight starts while averaging 11.7 points in 21.7 minutes per game and shooting 38.3 percent from beyond the arc on 7.6 attempts.

Expected Landing Spot in Miami

Once he clears waivers on Sunday, Thompson is expected to sign with the Miami Heat, according to a league source speaking on the condition of anonymity. Contract terms between the player and Miami have not yet been finalized.

The addition of Thompson provides Miami with perimeter shooting alongside frontcourt anchors Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo. The Heat added Antetokounmpo during the offseason, and the roster also features Andrew Wiggins, Bobby Portis, and Davion Mitchell. Front office executives in Miami project that Thompson will operate primarily in a floor-spacing role, utilizing his off-ball movement to create space while leaning on the team’s high-level wing defenders to shoulder heavy defensive assignments.

Playoff Ambitions and Roster Context

During an interview on a Twitch stream earlier in August, Thompson emphasized that competing for a deep postseason run remains his primary career objective. “I want to compete for a championship. Not necessarily win one, but just like have the chance to go and try and get another one,” Thompson said. “I want to play a role on a team that I want to make a deep playoff run, whether it’s this season or next season. But that’s really my only goal.”

During his time in Dallas, Thompson never appeared in an NBA playoff game, playing just 21 games alongside Luka Dončić and 45 alongside Kyrie Irving before roster turnover altered the franchise’s trajectory. The Mavericks finished with a 65-99 record across Thompson’s two seasons with the club.

Thompson is scheduled to clear waivers on Sunday, at which point formal contract negotiations with the Miami Heat are expected to conclude ahead of training camp.