Mailbag: Is Klay Thompson the front-runner to open season as Heat’s starting shooting guard?

Miami Heat admin September 22, 2026 0 Comments

Mailbag: Is Klay Thompson the front-runner to open season as Heat’s starting shooting guard?

The Miami Herald’s Heat mailbag is here to answer your questions. If you weren’t able to ask this time, send your questions for future mailbags via X (@Anthony_Chiang). You can also email them to [email protected].

@DimDayz: Is there going to be a competition for the starting spot at shooting guard, or will it be about balancing the starting lineup?

Anthony Chiang: It’s the Heat way to have a competition at nearly every spot even if one player is the clear front-runner for the role. So, there will probably be a competition for the starting shooting guard job during the preseason.

But the leading candidate for the role is future Hall of Famer Klay Thompson. With the Heat’s starting group built around the duo of Bam Adebayo and Giannis Antetokounmpo, outside shooting is needed throughout the rest of the lineup to help create space for Adebayo and Antetokounmpo inside the three-point line.

Thompson is one of the best three-point shooters in NBA history, ranking fourth in NBA history in all-time threes made (2,899) behind only No. 3 Ray Allen (2,973), No. 2 James Harden (3,390) and No. 1 Stephen Curry (4,248).

And while Thompson isn’t the player he was in his prime with the Golden State Warriors before he tore his ACL in 2019 and then ruptured his Achilles in 2020, he’s still a three-point threat with size at 6-foot-5 who defenses must game plan for.

Thompson, who will turn 37 on Feb. 8, shot 38.3% on 7.6 three-point attempts last regular season with the Dallas Mavericks. Among the 32 players in the NBA who took seven or more threes per game last regular season, Thompson posted the 11th-best three-point percentage. Even while other areas of his game are diminished, Thompson has shot a solid 38.7% on 8.1 three-point attempts per game across the last three regular seasons.

Thompson is still a very willing three-point shooter, too. Among the 304 players who appeared in at least 50 games last regular season, Thompson ranked second in the NBA with 15.9 three-point attempts per 100 possessions behind only LaMelo Ball’s 17.6 three-point attempts per 100 possessions.

This is the skill set that the Heat needs alongside Adebayo and Antetokounmpo. This is the skill set that makes Thompson the clear front-runner to begin the season as the Heat’s starting shooting guard.

If Thompson starts, other Heat shooting guard options like Tim Hardaway Jr. and Pelle Larsson would play off the bench.

@DADDOISTIRED: Has someone been hired to replace Michael Baiamonte as the PA announcer yet? Who?

Anthony: Considering the Heat’s first home preseason game is just two weeks away, it would seem likely that the Heat has already identified its next PA announcer. But the Heat has not yet made a formal announcement on Baiamonte’s replacement. That will be coming soon, though, with the start of the season just weeks away.