The Miami Heat will go through the motions of a competition for their fifth starting spot during training camp.
But one candidate enters with a fairly obvious advantage.
Veteran sharpshooter Klay Thompson is the early front-runner to open the season as Miami’s starting shooting guard, according to the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang, giving coach Erik Spoelstra a proven floor-spacer alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo.
Miami signed Thompson to a two-year, $11.5 million contract after he reached a buyout with the Dallas Mavericks. The second year is a player option.
The Heat also added Tim Hardaway Jr. this offseason. They also extended Pelle Larsson, giving Spoelstra three legitimate options at the position.
That should create a real preseason competition.
Thompson, though, owns the skill Miami needs most.
Klay Thompson Gives Miami Needed Shooting Around Giannis, Bam
Antetokounmpo and Adebayo will give Miami one of the NBA’s most imposing interior combinations, but neither is a high-volume 3-point shooter.
That makes spacing essential around them.
Chiang pointed directly to Thompson’s shooting as the reason he enters camp ahead of Miami’s other options.
“This is the skill set that makes Thompson the clear front-runner to begin the season as the Heat’s starting shooting guard,” Chiang wrote.
Thompson shot 38.3% from 3-point range last season, doing so on heavy volume for Dallas. Even during what was statistically a down year overall, the four-time champion remained one of the league’s most aggressive perimeter threats.
Hardaway was actually more accurate last season, shooting 40.7% from 3 while averaging 13.5 points for Denver. He also led all NBA reserves with 205 made 3-pointers.
Larsson, meanwhile, shot 32.3% from deep on 2.7 attempts per game while averaging 11.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists for Miami.
But Thompson separates himself through volume, movement and defensive gravity.
Defenses still have to chase him around screens and stay attached several feet beyond the arc. Every defender reluctant to leave Thompson is one fewer body available to crowd Antetokounmpo’s drives or Adebayo’s work inside.
Heat Still Have Competition at Shooting Guard
Hardaway gives Miami another proven veteran shooter and may be better suited as a bench scorer after finishing third in Sixth Man of the Year voting last season.
Larsson offers more youth, secondary playmaking and defensive versatility, and his 54 starts last season give him plenty of experience alongside Miami’s core.
Thompson also is no longer the two-way force he was during Golden State’s championship years.
He does not need to be.
Miami’s starting lineup already has its offensive engine in Antetokounmpo and its interior anchor in Adebayo. What it needs from the fifth starter is someone defenses cannot comfortably help off.
Hardaway can provide that.
Larsson can compete for the job.
But if the Heat want maximum spacing around their two stars, Thompson still looks like the most natural fit — and, as Chiang reported, the man entering camp with the inside track.
Heat Insider Reveals Frontrunner for Final Starting Spot