The Golden State Warriors' dream of acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo met a painful end over the past week, having been out of the conversation altogether as the superstar forward was eventually traded to the Miami Heat.
But if having to watch Antetokounmpo in a Heat jersey isn't frustrating enough, it might only get worse for the Warriors if the 2x MVP is joined in South Beach by franchise legend Klay Thompson in another major move.
Heat linked to Klay Thompson after blockbuster Giannis trade
In the aftermath of the Antetokounmpo trade finally going down prior to this week's draft, Ethan Skolnick of 5 Reason Sports has floated Thompson as a name to monitor as the Heat look to prioritize spacing around their new duo of the former Bucks star and veteran center Bam Adebayo.
The first obvious issue is exactly how Miami would trade for Thompson, having given up four players in the Antetokounmpo trade which also returned them perrenial Sixth Man of the Year contender Bobby Portis.
Unless Portis is re-routed in a Thompson deal, it's hard to see how else the Heat would go about trading for the veteran sharpshooter, or even really want to while he's about to enter a $17.5 million expiring contract.
It's incredibly difficult to see Miami trading for Thompson, but things suddenly change completely if the Mavericks aren't able to find a deal and are left to execute a buyout with the 36-year-old, allowing him to enter free agency and choose his next team.
In that instance you could imagine the Heat being a serious suitor for Thompson, and the 5x All-Star reciprocating that interest with the idea of playing on a re-tooled Miami team badly in need of his strongest skillset.
Klay Thompson could return to relevance playing with the Heat
Thompson might have had a career-worst year with the Mavericks this past season, but it's not as if he was put in a great situation to succeed playing alongside a host of young players. While he's no longer the player he once was at the Warriors, Thompson is still a near 40% 3-point shooter on high volume.
It's that type of player that the Heat will be targeting to fit around Antetokounmpo and Adebayo, and you can envision opposing defenses collapsing on that duo which could provide a player like Thompson with wide open 3-point opportunities.
That's not a vision the Warriors necessarily want to see become reality, but they might prefer it over seeing Thompson remain in Dallas where the end of his career is going to waste on what's now a rebuilding team.
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