Golden State should leave the Klay Thompson reunion alone, because the only legal version of it costs Moses Moody and returns two wings. Thompson’s $5,600,000 salary lets the Miami Heat absorb $11,450,000, which is $1,050,000 short of Moody’s $12,500,000, so Miami has to attach Tim Hardaway Jr.’s $6,500,000 for a Klay Thompson trade to be legal at all.
Thompson said after Miami’s Nov. 5 visit to Chase Center that a Golden State return had crossed his mind last offseason, telling reporters “a little bit” when asked, per Pratham Valluri of NBC Sports Bay Area. He is under contract in Miami through next season. The obstacle is not where Warriors fans would guess.
The Golden State Warriors Can Cover Klay Thompson Twice Over
Basketball-Reference puts Golden State’s payroll at $219,763,627, or $10,748,627 above the $209,015,000 first apron, and that position selects the rule: a team at or above the first apron may take back 100 percent of what it sends out, dollar for dollar, with no cushion, per Over The Apron. Moody’s $12,500,000 going out covers Thompson’s $5,600,000 more than twice.
The Warriors’ own hard cap sits at the $221,686,000 second apron, for signing De’Anthony Melton with the taxpayer mid-level exception, per Hoops Rumors. Sending $12,500,000 out for $12,100,000 back leaves them $2,322,373 below it.
The Miami Heat’s First-Apron Hard Cap Is the Binding Constraint
Miami’s payroll is $206,935,956, which is $2,079,044 below the first apron the Heat are hard-capped at for using the expanded traded player exception to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo, per Hoops Rumors. Below the apron, $5,600,000 of outgoing salary unlocks 200 percent plus $250,000, or $11,450,000, and that stops short of Moody.
The hard cap is a second, separate problem. Taking Moody back for Thompson alone adds $6,900,000 to Miami’s payroll, landing it $4,820,956 past a line it cannot cross. Hardaway’s expiring $6,500,000 answers both at once: $12,100,000 out moves Miami into the bracket that allows outgoing salary plus $9,095,709, a $21,195,709 ceiling, and leaves the Heat $1,679,044 under the apron when the dust settles.
Nothing Here Can Happen Before December 15
Both halves of Miami’s side are frozen. Hoops Rumors lists both Thompson and Hardaway among the Heat players who cannot be traded until Dec. 15; Thompson signed a two-year, $11,500,000 deal in August after his Dallas Mavericks buyout. His $5,880,000 for 2027-28 is a player option, so the acquiring team would inherit an obligation it does not control rather than a clean expiring slot. Hardaway’s deal simply ends in June.
Moses Moody Has a Better Job Already
The deeper objection is positional. Golden State’s unsettled spot is center, not wing, and it got worse when Kristaps Porziņģis announced he is stepping away from basketball. Side Eye Sports has argued for sending Moody to Chicago for Jalen Smith’s expiring contract, which fills the position the Warriors are actually short at. Moody cannot do both jobs.
And the player coming back is a reserve. Thompson scored 11 points on 3-of-10 shooting in 23 minutes of Golden State’s 120-100 win at Chase Center on Nov. 5, and is averaging 13.8 points on 41.3 percent from three through nine games with Miami.
Two things are unknowable. Whether Miami would entertain moving Thompson is the Heat’s business, and no outlet has reported that they have made him available or named a price in picks. Thompson’s remark described a thought from last summer, not a request.
The arithmetic is knowable, and it says the sentimental version of this trade does not exist. Golden State cannot buy Thompson with Moody alone; it has to take Hardaway too, five weeks from now, to fill a position it is already deep at. Spend the $12,500,000 on a center.
Contract figures and payroll totals via Basketball-Reference; cap, apron, hard-cap and trade-eligibility figures via Hoops Rumors; salary-matching rules via Over The Apron. All figures as of November 8, 2026.
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