Like many Miami Heat young players have experienced over the last several offseasons, second-year center Kel’el Ware found his name in the center of trade rumors–especially when it involved former Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant.
Miami was linked to Durant for much of this offseason, and Ware’s name was the sticking point in negotiations. The Suns were known to be seeking out a rim-running big after shuffling through myriad names (DeAndre Ayton, Jusuf Nurkic, Nick Richards), but the Heat were unwilling to part with the 2024 No. 15 overall pick after an encouraging rookie season. As many mess-ups as the Heat’s brass may have had over the last few seasons, they were smart for that.
Kel’el Ware is hoping to prove the Heat right, too, according to a recently published feature from Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald.
“It made me feel the Heat wanted me and they want to see how far I can get in the future and see how my development goes,” he said. “They see the potential in me and they see where I can be. So my main goal is to just sort of repay that they didn’t make a mistake.”
Kel’el Ware also discusses where he’s at in terms of getting stronger, his biggest offseason goal entering the summer:
Ware took many by surprise as a rookie, entering the rotation full-time as a starter alongside Bam Adebayo in January. He earned second-team All-Rookie and finished sixth in Rookie of the Year voting, which eventually went to Spurs center Stephon Castle.
Though Ware’s biggest offseason goal was getting stronger; his strength (or lack thereof) was noticeable against better bigs, mitigating his overall impact despite showing flashes as a vertical spacer and rim deterrent. He told Chiang that, after entering the NBA at 230 pounds, he’s currently 246 with a goal of getting to 250.
“My goals for the offseason and in the summer league is to show that I added more to my game, that I’ve gotten strong in the weight room,” Ware said. “Just showing that I can be a force out there and be dominant. … The bigger you are, of course that kind of slows you down a little bit. But wherever my body feels comfortable, that’s where we’ll be.”
Even though he was physically compromised against other NBA centers, the 21-year-old averaged 9.3 points and 7.4 rebounds on 60.3 percent true shooting. He had 15 double-doubles in 64 games, averaging 11.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks from January 19 onward (39 games).
Ware will participate in Summer League in July, though it’s unclear how long of a leash he will have. Jaime Jaquez Jr. played two games last season before sitting the rest; one could assume a similar plan for the 7-footer will be in place.
The Miami Heat begin Summer League on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. EST against the San Antonio Spurs in the California Classic.
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I watched kasparas play and its weird that the Heat summer coach didnt play him to his strengths.Mostly off ball and 1on1, little to no pick and roll action
I think KJ is displaying a lot of the little stuff and I’m a little worried it’s some Miami Heat bullshit, like prove you can play off ball and play defense before you get the ball.
And i get that its not about what we need. It’s about how do we make Kas the best player he can be in like 2-3 years. He needs to learn off ball and play defense to get any minutes in the league, he needs to learn this.We just respectfully don’t need that shit. We need prime Westbrook ball hogging triple double playmaking😅
I need to see him play in the regular season hopefully playing to his strength while maintaining the hustle. I dont put much stock in summer league. Remember Trae Young’s Utah summer league. he was 12/52 from the field (23%) and 3/24 from deep (12%) over 3 games and that was his first NBA action or the Mario Chalmers vs Derrick Rose stats in 2008 summer league. I am just praying that he is not a late bloomer like steve nash.
We have a trade for Stormin’ Norman and opened up a roster spot. K-Love and Slo-Mo out the door. Interesting.
Needs a lot of work them young guns but just 2 games in summer league. I’m still being haunted by that 11th pick that could’ve been…
Dang. I can’t believe the Heat are really going to run it back with this squad. I can’t ever remember the Heat having so little success multiple years in a row without making major changes. And I’ve been watching this team since the Alonzo Mourning days. Really dissapointed. I’m sure i’ll still watch, but they’re going to have to win some games if they want me to stick around through the season
We are all disappointed. Miami has been balancing competitiveness with cost containment for years. Arison has not been willing to pay the bucks required to get a player or two who can make a difference. The team needs one two-way alpha (to replace Butler) and one B+ front court veteran to rotate with Bam and Ware (Collins?) to be competitive. Another scorer (Lillard, Beal) wouldn’t hurt.
Without any significant upgrades, I see the team finishing as a play-in team (with a second shot at a lottery pick). A couple of teams may pass them up this year, so they may avoid the play-in round all together. The Heat finished 10th in the standings last year.
Right now, too much of the team’s money is tied up in expiring contracts. Those players will be gone by next summer and the 2026 NBA Draft class is expected to be deeper than this year’s. See mock draft and player profiles below. With further development by the young players, a very good draft pick (or 2) and enough money to bring in an elite level player, the Heat could be competitive going into the 2026 season.
https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/2026-nba-mock-draft-cameron-boozer-darryn-peterson-aj-dybantsa-headline-full-first-round-projection/
okay. I understand what you’re saying. And you’re not wrong.
But if that’s the plan, just trade Tyler and Bam for draft picks and start over from scratch. Get one good lottery pick this year, and spend the season looking for the one or two best leftovers. By next year, at least you’ve got a couple good prospects and a couple extra picks to trade (or draft).
I’m just being honest, I can’t get excited about going into next season with Tyler and Bam as our two best players, with Mitchell, JJJ, Jovic, & Ware to surround them. I feel like I watched that team get crushed in the first round two years in a row. I don’t think Wiggins and Slo-Mo are an upgrade over Butler. This is a 6-10 team in the East. If that’s what we’re doing, we might as well havre traded for Durant and made it fun.
If Pat Riley is building another play-in team, with no exciting upgrades, then fine. I’ll tune-in for the playoffs. Don’t get crushed by thirty again.
This is a 6-10 team in the east, which is what we already had in past three years with Butler. But there was a lot of PO success, which is not very likely with this team. That’s all the difference.
This is the year, where what is good will be separated with the rest. Bam is the only proven player in the team in the sense, that he is an crucial ingredient of a champion level team (defensive anchor and no. 3 offensive option).
In current team, there are 3-4 other players which can have the role in good team.
I think there will be Bam and no more then 3-4 other players from current team playing for Heat 1.5 years from now.
I m betting for Mitchell (special assignment player, no 8 from bench), Ware (starting C), Jovic (6th man) and new guy Kaspar (backup point guard).
The team seems stuck, unable to figure out which way to proceed. Do they go for it or do they start strategically positioning themselves for 2026/2027?. I know Riley prefers to compete now and knows they don’t have enough to get very far as they currently stand. But, for a myriad of reasons, they can’t find the right deal to upgrade this roster. Except, keeping the status quo is not the answer either.
Not seeing much today. Kaspar needs to adapt to the nba game. Minor positives, nobody standing out so far in the first half.
Stevenson still annoying me lol
I expect more once the team gets to Vegas. Ware has two nice dunks and a turnaround 3.
It’s early, only his second game, but Kaspar not showing much yet.
Hopefully Kasper plays better In Vegas, his turnover issues are as advertised, needs work more on his handles too.
Only players of any note were those that have no chance of making the team (but maybe 2-way candidates?) – Cook, Warren, Dain.
Ware has to get more rebounds. We need that.
Let’s go Heat SL!
NBA Offseason: Every free agency deal, extension & trade for all 30 teams
https://www.nba.com/news/nba-offseason-deals-2025
(Note players bought out or waived)
2025 Draft picks by team
https://www.nba.com/draft/2025/teams
BeWARE. hope this kid do wonders this season but my projection for Ware to really make an impact is 3 years. we are older by then lol
Heat beat Spurs in SL1. Stevenson was the surprise with 16 points. Undrafted 26. Year old has bounced around a bit. Possibly a SkyForce addition. Ware had a nice game with 14/7 and 3 blocks. Keshad 9/9, needs to get real minutes. Pelle led with 18, poor fg%, nut 10 for 11 at the charity stripe. He is definitely not short on effort and aggression. More tomorrow vs Lakers.
im gonna watch our boys in that game thanks
Both teams looked raw. Larson and Ware looked OK. They just need to get into playing shape and mindset. Larsson looks like he’s going to be fighting for a regular rotation spot. Johnson had a quiet 9 pts/9 rebs. He still needs to play within his skill set and have confidence in his shot. Stevenson had 16 pts, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. He looks like someone who could be an off the bench sharpshooter (like Burkes). I wasn’t impressed with Goldin’s defense/feet/side to side movement/aggressiveness.
Jakucionis looks green. He just needs playing time (maybe split with Heat and Sky Force to start). He has to find his pro game. He needs to learn how to slow the game down and control the tempo. That’s what these games do. They show players and coaches what they need to work on. I hope Dragic joins the team as a coach or consultant this year. This kid can use his wisdom, experience and advice. So can the other younger players.
Not bad for a first game. We should see incremental improvements over these next couple of weeks. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.
Yeah, it was a sloppy affair. Stevenson came in and made several dumb passes and other maddening s**t. By the time he scored I was already pissed off at him. lol 😛
I liked Keshad’s dunk, but most of the guys looked like it was their first game of summer. I expect a little more steadiness today.
I agree about Stevenson. He didn’t look good handling the ball and I was already questioning why he was there until he hit those 3 pointers in the second half. He has never been known for his 3 point shooting so it may have just been his lucky day. Time will tell.
The player Lakers want to trade with Hachimura for Wiggins (Knecht) was 3-13 yesterday 0-6 from 3. He finished with 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.
Ware was slow initially, Pelle was a player of the game. Kaspar didnt show much.
Cooke and Stevenson show something interesting.
I m not happy with Keshad. Playing like that will cost him a contract.
Whitmore to Wizards. A move I brought up if you’re not trading for Kuminga. Wizards were supposedly talking to Warriors about Kuminga. It only took two 2nd rounders.
Heat need to figure out this roster if they plan on trades because right now they’re depending on a 2 for 1.