Klay Thompson trade talks: Mavericks won't buy him out, Heat balk on Jovic

Klay Thompson's second act in Dallas looks like it's winding down, and the Mavericks are trying to squeeze one last bit of value out of it before it ends. Rather than negotiate a buyout, Dallas is actively shopping Thompson's expiring contract around the league, according to ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel.

ClutchPoints

@ClutchPoints

ClutchPoints’ @BrettSiegelNBA with the latest on Klay Thompson: “The Mavs are focused on finding a trade for [Klay]. The Mavs do not hold interest in buying Thompson out and want to utilize his expiring contract to add something of value… Aside from the Heat, two other teams with a level of interest in Thompson are the Lakers and Warriors. Then again, both teams would only have interest in adding the current Mavs' wing if he were to be a free agent, meaning a potential buyout in Dallas.” (via t.co/YP3ZluqKFI)

Thompson is in the final season of the three-year deal he signed in the 2024 sign-and-trade that sent him from Golden State to Dallas, and he's set to make $17.5 million this year. That number is exactly why Dallas wants a trade instead of a release — an expiring contract of that size is a useful chip for taking back other money or attaching to a bigger deal, while a buyout gets Dallas nothing back at all.

The problem is finding a taker willing to give up something real. Per Siegel, the Miami Heat have been the team most connected to Thompson, but they're reportedly not willing to include 23-year-old forward Nikola Jovic to get a deal done. Jovic is one of the last young pieces Miami has left after gutting its roster — Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kasparas Jakucionis all went out the door in the Giannis Antetokounmpo blockbuster — and the Heat aren't eager to hand over another one for a 36-year-old on an expiring deal.

NBACentral

@TheDunkCentral

The Miami Heat are hesitant to trade a young asset like Nikola Jović for Klay Thompson, per @BrettSiegelNBA “Even though the Heat could get creative with a trade offer revolving around 23-year-old forward Nikola Jovic, this doesn't appear to be a scenario Miami wants to see play out. Jovic is a young talent the Heat have coveted since drafting him 27th overall in 2022, and he is one of the team's only youthful options after trading Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Kasparas Jakucionis for Giannis.” (Via t.co/YZbiGdrGAu)

That leaves Miami in an awkward spot: interested enough to be in the rumor mill, but not interested enough to pay full price. Siegel also names the Lakers and Warriors as teams watching the situation, though both reportedly only want in if Thompson clears waivers as a free agent — meaning they're betting on a buyout Dallas has explicitly said it doesn't want to do. Los Angeles makes some sense as a landing spot regardless; Thompson has said he'd like to play there, where he owned a home and lived as a kid.

It's a quiet fade for a guy who spent 13 seasons in Golden State stacking four championships and 484 combined three-pointers with Steph Curry in a single season alone, the stretch that turned them into the Splash Brothers. This year in Dallas has been a career-low: 11.7 points, 21.7 minutes and 38.3% from three across 69 games, numbers that fit a team no longer built around him. Cooper Flagg is the future of that roster now, coming off a Rookie of the Year season, and new team president Masai Ujiri — hired away from Toronto after 13 years running the Raptors — is reshaping Dallas around him. With 16 standard contracts already on the books, the Mavericks need Thompson's money moved one way or another before the season tips off.

For now it's a standoff: Dallas won't just let Thompson walk for nothing, and Miami won't pay Jovic for a rental. Somebody blinks eventually — the only question is whether it happens before training camp or Thompson ends up getting bought out anyway.