The Miami Heat have famously found undrafted ‘diamonds in the rough’ who have played a large role for good Miami teams. To start the 2024-25 season, their first round pick was barely seeing the floor. While much of the Heat chatter revolves around a potential Jimmy Butler trade, it shouldn’t be ignored how well Kel’el Ware has played of late.
The 7-foot center continued his productive stretch on Tuesday.
There Is An Emerging Rookie Of The Year Candidate For Heat
Kel’el Ware Has Been Mighty Productive For Heat Of Late
Tuesday wasn’t exact one of the Heat’s best performances of the season. They lost at home to a subpar Portland Trail Blazers team by the score of 116-107. Miami was missing potential All-Star Tyler Herro, who was a late scratch due to groin tightness. Instead of replacing Herro with another wing player in the starting lineup, head coach Erik Spoelstra instead turned to Ware. It was his first career start in the NBA.
Spoelstra probably recalled how well the Heat played on Sunday in their win against the San Antonio Spurs when the 20-year-old Ware shared the frontcourt with Bam Adebayo. While the final result wasn’t what Ware wanted on Tuesday, he continued his outstanding play. He finished the outing with 20 points (8-17 from field, 2-6 from three-point range), 15 rebounds, and two blocks. While his team lost, Miami was a +8 in Ware’s 39 minutes.
It was the second consecutive outing where Ware finished with more than 20 points. Against the Spurs, he dropped 25 while adding eight boards and two rejections. Tuesday was Ware’s second career double-double, and his first came on January 13 against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Arkansas native totaled 19 points and 13 rebounds in that contest. On January 2, he scored 25 in just 21 minutes against the Indiana Pacers.
It has now been 17 games since Ware has entered the rotation on a full-time basis. In that time, he has averaged 10.9 points (59.8% field goal shooting), 6.1 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks in 19.6 minutes.
Playing Time Opened Up After Thomas Bryant Was Traded
On December 15, Miami dealt center Thomas Bryant to the Pacers for a second round pick in 2031. The move opened up backup center minutes for the Heat, and it was soon after that Ware became a part of the team’s rotation.
In Miami’s first 25 games, Ware only appeared in 10 of them. The 15th overall pick didn’t play in eight straight games spanning from November 29 until December 20. Ware played in two Tip-Off Tournament games in the G League for the Sioux Falls Skyforce over that time. In the 10 games he did play for Miami, he wasn’t on the court for more than 13:35 of playing time for any of them. Playing just 6.9 minutes per contest in his first 10 games, Ware had pedestrian averages of 2.4 points and 1.6 rebounds in them.
It was just a few short days ago where I posted my midseason All-Rookie teams. Due to barely playing at the beginning of the season, Ware didn’t find his way on there. If his play continues the way it has (and with this not being one of the more productive rookie classes), Ware will find his way on an All-Rookie team at the end of the season (perhaps even being a Rookie of the Year candidate).
The post There Is An Emerging Rookie Of The Year Candidate For Heat appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.