Much of the Miami Heat's holiday wish list has surely gone unfulfilled. They limped into the Christmas break with eight losses to show for their last nine games. Franchise centerpiece Bam Adebayo suddenly can't find his footing. The offense that roared out of the starting blocks has now stalled out. The injury bug keeps bothering Tyler Herro and preventing the Heat from deciding if they should be building around him or not.
But, hey, at least sophomore center Kel'el Ware is hitting his stride. Granted, that may not be much of a consolation for fans who have watched this team tumble from a potential threat in the Eastern Conference to a possible play-in tournament participant. But it is very much a big deal—provided he can finally unlock his key to consistency.
Ware's development could allow the Heat to dream big on the trade market.
As a 21-year-old navigating just his second NBA go-round, Ware is more of a theoretical trade asset than a certified rising star. Upon his recent promotion back to the starting five, he immediately responded with three consecutive 20-point double-doubles—while tallying 12 triples and five blocks, no less.
This run was, of course, preceded by a string of single-digit-scoring duds and followed by a forgettable five-point effort in Miami's 21-point home loss to the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday.
Reliability is not yet a strength, in other words, but it's worth noting that his role seems to change just as often as his stats do. So, perhaps if he was fully entrusted with a featured role, he might start posting featured-star stat lines on the regular.
It's hard to overstate the benefit that would have on this bunch.
The reason the Heat are seemingly connected to any and every conceivably available star is that they don't have a transcendent talent on the roster. There are plenty of above-average to good players in the group and even a few really good ones, but none that would qualify as legitimate greats.
If Miami ever hopes to rejoin the championship chase, it has to change that. And Ware could scratch that itch in one of two ways by either becoming a star himself or flashing enough high-level play to anchor a trade package for an established elite.
Hopefully, he's racing down one of those roads as we speak. It doesn't take the most imaginative mind to envision stardom awaiting a bouncy 7-footer who can protect the paint, shoot from the perimeter, and finish with force around (and above) the rim.
He has those tools in his arsenal; he just has trouble summoning them all on a consistent basis. The quicker he solves that puzzle, though, the better off life will be in South Beach. Because the second his star starts to convincingly climb, then the Heat can either call off their whale hunt or feel great about their chances of finally capturing one.