While he entered the NBA with 15 career double-doubles in two years in college at Indiana and Oregon, Miami Heat big man Kel’el Ware still had strides to make in that department with his motor and body positioning, as well as getting stronger in his core.
He was still a work-in-progress. But the talent and size were always present.
As a rookie, Ware flashed a lot of intriguing attributes. In 64 games, he averaged 9.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. After an uneven Summer League, Ware has continued to make legitimate strides as a sophomore. And his tangible growth has led him to be toward the top of the NBA in this one very key area.
Kel’el Ware continues to make strides on glass:
Through 28 games, Ware is averaging 11.9 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. That includes a monstrous eight-game stretch from Nov. 10-24, where he tallied 15.9 points, 15.1 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game on 63.7 percent true shooting.
It hasn’t always been perfect for the 21-year-old. But he has made incremental strides both offensively and defensively in two seasons. However, some of the biggest strides he’s made are on the backboards. And a few stats prove his worth and upside, despite some inefficiencies.
Through two months, Ware is second among the 192 players who have logged at least 500 minutes in total rebound percentage (22.0 percent). He trails only Andre Drummond, who’s grabbing 23.5 percent of available rebounds. Additionally, he’s T-3 in defensive rebound percentage (29.6), No. 6 in offensive rebound percentage and No. 2 in rebounds per 75 possessions (14.8).
At times over his first two seasons, Ware struggled with consistently boxing out opponents. He’s also struggled not only with reacting to the rock off the rim, but grabbing it with two hands.
That said, his motor on the glass, for the most part, has been excellent over the last four weeks. Ware will be tested Sunday afternoon against Mitchell Robinson and the New York Knicks. Don’t make Udonis Haslem call you again!
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Ware is a keeper.
Absolutely! Has some truly elite talent.
I wouldn’t break up Bam and Ware. It could be a very long time before Miami finds a pair like that again.
What Riley needs to do is upgrade the following players, at minimum, into a two-way A-/B+ scoring PG, a two-way (A-/B+) scoring SF and a (B/B+) two-way back-up PF/C:
Herro ($33,000,000 (Expires 2027) Wiggins ($30,169,644 (Player Option 2026-2027)Rozier $26,643,031 (Expires 2026)Fonsecchio $8,307,692 (Expires 2026) Jovic $16,200,000 (Begins 2026-2027 – 4 years/$62.4M)Johnson $1,955,377* (Expires 2026)
Proposed Line-up:
New PG, Powell, New SF, Bam, Ware
Mitchell, Jakucionis, Larsson, Jaquez, New PF/C
Smith, Johnson?, 2026 draft pick, ?, ?
It would be great to have all this done by the trade deadline. However, I would be happy if it was all done by next summer.
*I would consider keeping Johnson, if he continues to develop the rest of the season and is worthy of another 2 year extension (veteran’s minimum).