Miami Heat Rookie Continues Dominance Ahead of Break

In a disappointing five-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night, the Miami Heat received a silver lining in the continued solid play of its rookie.

Kel’el Ware — a 7-foot center drafted just outside the lottery at No. 15 in the 2024 NBA Draft — has revved up his play in recent months, coming on as a real contributor for the topsy-turvy Heat.

The former Duck turned Hoosier got off to a slow professional start, seeing a minor injury just a few games in. Since then, he’s become the player he looked at Summer League, leading the Heat to the title there.

That was especially apparent on Thursday, as he added 17 points on 8-for-14 shooting, in addition to nine rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.

Miami guard Tyler Herro’s 40-ball ultimately wasn’t able to grant the new-look Heat a win, but Ware continued to prove his mettle as the team’s starting center of the future.

On the season, he’s now bolstered his stats to a respectable 8.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists with 53% shooting overall and, more importantly, 37% shooting from three.

The lengthy 7-footer has long shown two-way prowess, even dating back to his sophomore season in college. Per a past scouting report from NBA Draft on SI: “Closer to the rim, the 7-footer actually has good shooting touch. He’s got a high release point to go along with incredible standing reach that ensures his shot isn’t blocked or altered. He’s got good hands and has no trouble sealing off defenders to get the ball in a place to generate shots he wants. Where he’s really impactful is defensively, as he is very disruptive with his active hands. He’s great at clogging passing lanes and blocks a ton of shots. As a rim protector, the upside is extremely high with Ware.”

Ware now ranks within the top three odds for Rookie of the Year on a variety of sites, usually only being ousted by Spurs’ guard Stephon Castle. If he can continue his hot play post break — where he questionably wasn’t selected as a Rising Star — he’ll likely have a chance at landing the hardware.

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