TL;DR
Kelāel Ware, the Miami Heat's 7-foot player, has had an inconsistent two-year career, showing both promise and underperformance. Selected No. 15 in the 2024 NBA draft, his contributions have varied significantly during his time with the team.
CHARLOTTE ā Two years in, and still an enigma, or closer to reality, an enigma squared.
Because two years in, Kelāel Ware has been both a dynamic contributor and a lackadaisical bystander.
And two seasons in, the Miami Heat 7-footer at times has been both essential contributor in Erik Spoelstraās rotations and low-minutes bit player.
To say the ride has been uneven since the Arkansas native was selected No. 15 by the Heat out of Indiana in the 2024 NBA draft would be understatement.
A year ago, Ware was being swatted aside in the postseason by Jarrett Allen in the Cleveland Cavaliersā first-round rampage over the Heat.
And yet, at the same time, the Heat were protective to the degree of reportedly having Ware off limits in trade discussion for Kevin Durant.
And then, this season, more of the same, with wild swings of the playing-time pendulum. Early in the season, the starts were bountiful. And then, later in the season, not only limited to a reserve role, but a limited reserve role, a 10-game stretch bookended by only five minutes in a road loss to the Houston Rockets and 11 minutes in last Thursdayās road loss to the Toronto Raptors.
And then? Consecutive starts to close out the regular season, the games leading to Tuesday nightās play-in showdown against the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center.
āKelāelās really important to what weāre trying to do, and we all know about his upside,ā Spoelstra said in the wake of Fridayās return of Ware to the starting lineup. āAnd heās a key player for us.ā
It is an upside that included an upgrade in 3-point shooting, with Wareās 92 3-pointers during the regular season the most in a season by any seven-footer in team history, closing at an impressive .395 from beyond the arc, up from .315 as a rookie.
That, too, drew Spoelstra notice.
āThat may be the area that heās had the most consistent improvement,ā Spoelstra said. āThe defense and some of the nuances there, thatās taken some time, and still he has some work to do there. But heās been really diligent, along with our other fives, putting in the time.
āHe was a very good 18-foot shooter in college, so it was just a matter of getting used to the range. And then the decision-making, when to shoot it, context of game, whether itās the right shot at the appropriate time, whether itās an inside-out, he started to make some strides with that in the new year, and now heās gaining confidence.ā
And more, Spoelstra said, now a team player on the offensive end.
āHeās also done a good job of moving the ball, so I think heās improved with his decision-making there,ā Spoelstra said.
Through the ups and downs of playing time, Ware said he has gotten a better sense of where Spoelstra was coming from and when the minutes might be there.
āSo I just try to go out there and try to get some type of flow and just play through the minutes that I get,ā he said. āAnd when Iām not playing, I still work out.
āThose times, I still go shoot, like the mornings before the games. Iād go get some shots up in the morning just to try to stay fresh.ā
The lesson has been to play the minutes to the maximum . . . because there might be a maximum.
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āI mean, accepting what it is,ā he said of his year-two rollercoaster. āThe road is going to be the road. And if the minutes are going to be short, do what I can in those minutes.ā
As it is, there was enough action to finish 10th in the league in rebounding, which, along with Bam Adebayo closing eighth, gave the Heat two players in the leagueās final top 10 in rebounding for the first time in the franchiseās 38 seasons.
No matter where it goes next with Ware, Adebayo said the progress and pairing has been tangible at times
āI feel like Kelāel trusts me when weāre in the game together,ā Adebayo said. āSo just being able to have that trust and being consistent.ā
The next step, Spoelstra said, is to instill confidence Ware can make it work defensively against perimeter-based 3-point teams such as the Hornets.
āHeās definitely gotten better, but thereās also some nuances,ā Spoelstra said āYou have to be able to cover ground. Thereās no way around it. Youāre going to have to scramble. You canāt just park him in the middle of the paint and tell him to guard the rim.
āThatās just not the reality with some of these modern-day offenses. But heās definitely made some progress.ā