With Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo, Andrew Wiggins, and Davion Mitchell projected to fill four spots in the Heat’s starting lineup, the shooting guard position may be the only one up for grabs during training camp and the preseason. Discussing that final starting spot, Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald identifies Klay Thompson as the “clear” leading candidate, noting that the veteran’s ability to space the floor will be an important factor the team considers.

Chiang acknowledges that other areas of Thompson game outside of his shooting are “diminished” now that he’s 36 years old and has an injury history that includes ACL and Achilles tears. However, the veteran sharpshooter has never made fewer than 38.3% of his three-point attempts in a season and continues to let them fly at a high volume, averaging a career-high 12.7 tries per 36 minutes in Dallas last season.

If Thompson does earn a spot in the starting lineup, Chiang expects other wings like Pelle Larsson and Tim Hardaway Jr. to be among the Heat’s top reserves.

We have more on the Heat:

• Larsson’s new four-year, $60MM extension with the Heat will exceed the NBA’s extend-and-trade parameters, making him ineligible to be traded for six months. That means he’s currently the only player on Miami’s roster who won’t be trade-eligible at this season’s February 11 trade deadline, notes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (subscription required). Larsson has to pass a physical before his new deal will be officially complete, Winderman adds.
• While second-round pick Ryan Conwell isn’t necessarily expected to play a major role for the Heat as a rookie, his college coach Pat Kelsey believes the former Louisville standout is ready to contribute and has a bright future ahead of him, Chiang writes for The Miami Herald. Referring to Conwell as an “elite” shooter and high-IQ player, Kelsey also lauded the 22-year-old’s character. “The thing to me that really separates Ryan are the things you can’t measure with statistics,” he said. “It’s the intangibles, it’s the work ethic and the character, the caliber of teammate he is, his coachability. When your best player is all those things, everybody else falls in line because your best player is the best self-starter that gets there the earliest, that stays the latest, that is meticulous in his preparation, in his film study and all those things. You don’t coach a player of the caliber and character of a Ryan Conwell very often in your career.”
• Within a mailbag for the Sun Sentinel (subscription required), Winderman answers questions about Gabe Vincent and Tre White, writing that Vincent seems unlikely to accept a non-guaranteed training camp contract and suggesting that White could still end up on a camp deal with the Heat depending on how his lawsuit regarding a fifth year of college eligibility progresses.