After much speculation (I was literally working on a best landing spots post before having to pivot over to this), Klay Thompson and the Dallas Mavericks have agreed to a buyout. However, the former Splash Brother (or is it once a Splash Brother, always a Splash Brother?) quickly signed with the Miami Heat after closing the books on his two-year run with the Mavericks.
BREAKING: Klay Thompson is expected to sign with the Miami Heat after he clears waivers upon a contract buyout with the Dallas Mavericks, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/jV40iKTyEz
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 21, 2026
The Heat have had about as busy an offseason as anyone in the association. So, let's take a moment to review what their depth chart and nightly rotation projects to be.
Updated 2026-27 Miami Heat depth chart
Remember, this depth chart is merely my opinion based on their current roster. We won't actually know what the team is thinking until Media Day, at the very least (knowing head coach Eric Spoelstra, he may even keep this a secret until opening night). Anyway, here is what I'm thinking:
POSITION | FIRST STRING | SECOND STRING | THIRD STRING |
|---|---|---|---|
PG | Davion Mitchell | Dru Smith | Tre Donaldson |
SG | Pelle Larsson | Tim Hardaway Jr. | Ryan Conwell |
SF | Andrew Wiggins | Klay Thompson | Myron Gardner |
PF | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Simone Fontecchio | Nikola Jović |
C | Bam Adebayo | Bobby Portis | Vladislav Goldin |
Before we start, I'd like to point out that depth charts are a bit antiquated because, sometimes, your starting power forward may also be your backup center (like with the Heat), or maybe your starting shooting guard is your backup point guard.
Anyway, I think there are four guys who you can basically put in as locks for the starting lineup. Those guys are Davion Mitchell, Andrew Wiggins, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Bam Adebayo. Three of those players were starters last year, and the other is one of the best players on the planet.
For the final starting spot, I think they will go with Pelle Larrson. He's the epitome of the Heat player: a late draft pick who plays hard, is high IQ and not afraid to fire away from three. He also started 54 games for them last season.
Expect Adebayo and Antetokounmpo to have their minutes staggered so that one of them is almost always on the floor at center. When this isn't the case, Bobby Portis is going to be their five-man, but he'll also see a ton of minutes as a power forward next to Adebayo or Antetokounmpo.
The first backcourt player we will see off the bench is Tim Hardaway Jr. Along with Thompson, Hardaway is one of the Heat's "marquee" free agent signings, and he's spent years being one of the better bench players in the association.
Dru Smith is probably the closest thing the Heat have to a backup point guard. However, I expect Antetokounmpo to be handling the ball on offense in a lot of lineups where Mitchell isn't on the floor. Klay Thompson got used to the idea of coming off the bench last season (only starting eight of 69 games). I expect this to continue to be the case here. Simone Fontecchio will also come off the bench at either the three or four spot to give the team some size, physicality, defense, and shooting.
I think that, at least early on, the Heat will be going eleven deep on a nightly basis. And that eleven player (unless he gets traded) will be Nikola Jović. This season will be the first year of his four-year, $62 million dollar extension (per Spotrac). So, there is a financial incentive for the Heat to get their money's worth out of him. Also, as a team that is desperately lacking in ball handling, Jović could become a sneaky valuable player for them.
On the outside of the rotation, we have Ryan Conwell, Tre Donaldson, Myron Gardner, and Vladislav Goldin. If one of them is going to crack the rotation, my bet would be Conwell -- the second round rookie with a profile that is eerily similar to Norman Powell (who left the Heat for the Chicago Bulls this offseason).
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