Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) dribbles up court against the Philadelphia 76ers during the first quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
The Miami Heat finally landed Klay Thompson in free agency after spending several weeks interested in him, as they waited for the Mavericks and the veteran shooting guard to reach a buyout agreement. Miami had been pushing for Thompson throughout the offseason, and the situation finally opened up once Dallas agreed to let him out of the final year of his contract.
Thompson decided to take his talents to South Beach after putting up 11.7 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 69 games last season while shooting 38.3% from three. The 36-year-old walked away from his expiring $17.5 million contract with the Mavericks and is expected to sign a two-year deal worth nearly $13 million with Miami, including a player option in the second season, to play next to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo.
For now, the Heat have 13 players filling the 15 standard roster spots, and they already have Klay, Tim Hardaway Jr., Andrew Wiggins, Bobby Portis, Davion Mitchell, and Simone Fontecchio as players who shot at least 37.5% from three last season. Still, with those roster spots available, adding one or two more three-point specialists wouldn’t hurt, especially if Miami can find players who barely have any recognition in the league.
2. Antonio Reeves
Antonio Reeves would definitely be an under-the-radar bet, but the shooting numbers are pretty hard to ignore. He only appeared in 10 games for the Hornets last season and averaged 2.7 points in 6.8 minutes, but he shot 50.0% from the field and a crazy 53.8% from three. The sample is obviously tiny, although this isn’t the first time Reeves has shown he can really shoot it.
As a rookie with the Pelicans in 2024-25, Reeves played 44 games and made 39.5% of his threes while taking 2.9 attempts per game. Put both NBA seasons together, and he is already at 40.8% from deep through 54 games, with a 56.7% effective field-goal percentage. He isn’t some established rotation player yet, but for Miami’s final roster spots, the Heat don’t really need him to be one.
Reeves is also an unrestricted free agent after Charlotte didn’t give him a qualifying offer, so Miami could take a very cheap shot without giving up anything. At 25, he also brings a little more upside than signing another shooter in his mid-30s, while his role would be very clear from the start: stay ready, hit open threes, and give Erik Spoelstra another option whenever the offense needs even more spacing.
For one of the last spots on the roster, I like that kind of gamble. Reeves wouldn’t need guaranteed minutes every night, but a career 40.8% three-point shooter who is still only 25 is exactly the type of cheap specialist Miami can afford to test.
1. A.J. Lawson
A.J. Lawson would be a much more under-the-radar option because he has already shown some NBA-level shooting while spending most of his time between the Raptors and Raptors 905. The 26-year-old played 24 games for Toronto last season, averaging 4.2 points and 1.8 rebounds in only 9.4 minutes while shooting 42.2% from three on 1.9 attempts per game. It wasn’t a huge NBA sample, but the efficiency was definitely interesting.
Lawson also had a much bigger impact in the G League, where he put up 20.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 25 regular-season games. His three-point percentage dropped to 37.2% there, but he was taking 7.8 threes per game and making 2.9 of them, which shows that he is comfortable with the volume instead of only taking one or two open looks. He also earned All-NBA G League Second Team honors after his strong season with Raptors 905.
At 6-foot-6, Lawson also brings a little more size than most specialists. The Heat wouldn’t need him doing anything else but spotting up here and there. His job could be pretty simple: run the floor, stay ready on the perimeter, and attack closeouts whenever defenders come running to the three-point line.
For one of the final roster spots, Lawson makes sense as a low-cost gamble. He already shot 42.2% from three in NBA minutes last season, has experience taking almost eight threes per game in the G League, and is still only 26, so there is at least some room for him to become more than just an emergency piece.