Klay Thompson
Klay Thompson, 36, enters the season as Miami's starting shooting guard, brought in for floor spacing around Giannis Antetokounmpo. He shot badly in four exhibition games, and Tim Hardaway Jr. is pushing him for minutes.
Role
Basketnews (Oct. 18, citing the Sun Sentinel) reports he started all four preseason games. NBC Sports (Oct. 3) had the opener's starting five as Davion Mitchell, Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo. His minutes were light: 15 in the finale against Orlando on Oct. 16. The wire note has him resting for a preseason game against Minnesota, and RotoWire later said he was in line to play against the Nets. I found no confirmed regular-season minutes target, usage rate or back-to-back plan. Hardaway and Pelle Larsson are the names Blue Man Hoop (Oct. 18) says could compete for his minutes. The regular season opens Oct. 20.
He is the shooter Miami signed to space the floor for Antetokounmpo and Adebayo, and he has the starting job. Thompson said he was focused on conditioning and defense, not his shot, and expects to shoot his career averages. Fadeaway World (Oct. 17) says he defended well in the preseason. SI (Oct. 18) argues that three games is too small a sample to judge a shooter of his history.
Across four exhibition games he scored 17 points, shooting 7 of 26 overall and 3 of 20 from three. He went scoreless in two of them, including 0 for 7 in the Orlando finale. Hardaway, by contrast, averaged 11.5 points in under 15 minutes and shot well, and Larsson also scored well. Blue Man Hoop says Miami won't simply play through his slump now that results count. The Smoking Cuban notes he creates little for himself, so his game depends on his shot falling. These are exhibition numbers, not season statistics.
Where analysts split
The disagreement is whether the poor preseason shooting is noise or a sign of decline, and so whether he keeps the starting spot and minutes once Hardaway (and possibly Larsson) are playing well. Optimists see a small sample and a role that fits. Skeptics see a 36-year-old with little else to offer if the shot isn't falling.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
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