Klay Thompson seeks ‘redemption' in Miami as Warriors face a murkier path back to contention
· Yahoo Sports
In recent summers, Klay Thompson has retreated to Miami to find himself, again. His ethos, after all, flows into the very nature of water itself. He embraced the San Francisco Bay so much that he famously took a dip in it after one NBA Finals victory with the Golden State Warriors.
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So it makes sense that Thompson sought solace in South Beach, as a newly minted member of the Heat, with a real chance to return to basketball's pinnacle after two frustrating seasons in Dallas.
A year ago, while getting shots up inside a University of Miami gym, he ran into a trainer who'd once seen him at his best. Justin Zormelo had worked for years with Kevin Durant, but only was just then meeting Thompson.
The two clicked, and over the past two offseasons, the player-development specialist has worked to stoke Thompson's competitive fire. "Have him understand who he is and who he was," said Zormelo, a Florida native, "and who he can be."
Who Thompson is - and was - is well-known in the Bay and beyond, through 11 seasons in Golden State and four titles and a not-so-clean franchise divorce. Who he can be has remained unclear. But the 36-year-old has the chance for a curtain call now, after finalizing a contract buyout with Dallas and signing with Miami on a two-year deal worth $11.5 million.
On Tuesday, he arrived in Miami for his public introduction, sitting quietly for a few moments to the left of head coach Erik Spoelstra. Thompson smirked as Spoelstra pointed beyond the room's walls to joke that a defender had to guard him even if he ran out there. He spoke softly when it was his turn, but Thompson's hands hit the table with some audible conviction.
"This upcoming season," Thompson told reporters in Miami, "it's kind of a redemption season for me, to show that I can still make an impact on winning."
That drew him to Miami, an organization with a head coach well-known for creating an internally demanding environment. Green, for one, notably joked on his podcast Wednesday that the notoriously enigmatic Thompson might not fit seamlessly into Miami's well-advertised "Heat Culture."
"I don't know how that's going to work for Klay," Green said, "because Klay moves to the beat of his own drum. Klay does what Klay does."
Green, though, repeatedly said he loves the move for his old championship running mate. And Thompson told reporters in Miami that the organization's mentality fits his own mindset "to a T."
"He wants to compete for championships," Zormelo said in an interview with the Chronicle. "And I think Golden State showed him that, and he always says he's spoiled by that."
A couple years after Stephen Curry bellowed "You better stay here!" after finishing off the Mavericks in Thompson's return to the Chase Center, Curry's former Splash Bro. - in a cruel twist of fate - now appears to have a clearer path to competing for championships in his final act. Miami won the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes in June, pairing the all-world battering ram with stalwart All-Defensive center Bam Adebayo. Thompson now enters the fray to intermix inside-outside gravitational forces, and re-join former Warriors championship teammate Andrew Wiggins.
Was Wiggins' presence, for one, an added plus in Thompson's decision?
"Heck yeah," Zormelo said.
For back-to-back summers, Zormelo has attempted to attack Thompson's flaws to ensure longevity in a game that continues to evolve. Thompson has to stay the same, Zormelo believes. He also has to adapt. That has led to a drastic refinement of his game, with 2019's torn ACL and 2020's torn Achilles and age; Thompson took 72% of his shot attempts from 3-point range in 2025-26, after hovering just under half at his Warriors peak.
Thompson averaged the fewest points per game (11.7) of his career last year for the 26-56 Mavericks, on a team that "looked like they were just getting ready for the draft," as Zormelo put it. He started just eight games. He shot just 42% inside the arc. But he remains in a tier with Curry as one of the NBA's pre-eminent jump-shooters, and playing off the Greek Freak has its benefits.
Miami's system will create easier looks for Thompson, Zormelo believes.
"I just told him, and (Miami) - Klay Thompson is his own play," Zormelo said. "You call a ‘Floppy' (set) or this and that, you gotta find him first."
He rattled off a list of old Heat shooters.
"I mean, you've seen Ray Allen," Zormelo continued later. "You've seen the Mike Millers. You've seen Rashard Lewises. You've seen, even LeBron, shoot 40%. You've seen, they put Chris Bosh out there to shoot threes. They've had Duncan Robinson, the (Max) Struses. So, like, they have sets for him. And you got Giannis, Bam and Bobby Portis. Man, that's gonna be - that's an awesome situation."
The Heat, of course, still lack depth after selling much of the farm for Antetokounmpo and face a treacherous path in the Eastern Conference after New York's title run and Philadelphia's addition of LeBron James. Still, they're positioned better than Golden State: The Warriors' fortunes largely ride on the health of the 38-year-old Curry, 36-year-old Jimmy Butler, 36-year-old Draymond Green, and 31-year-old Kristaps Porzingis in the glaring absence of any major free-agent or trade acquisition this offseason.
"I think in constructing the (roster), we had to make a decision between talent and availability," general manager Mike Dunleavy said earlier this month. "And there was no perfect situation, in terms of the combination of the two. And I think we leaned a little bit more towards talent, knowing the team that we have, and what we need."
With an overstuffed cap sheet, Golden State was hardly even connected back to Thompson as a possible landing spot. The franchise is hard-capped at the second apron after using the taxpayer mid-level exception to re-sign guard De'Anthony Melton, meaning the Warriors could have only offered a minimum deal to Thompson.
And thus, the Sea Captain will take his talents to South Beach, as Miami's compass points north and Golden State's keeps spinning.
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