The Miami Heat will be left with one less big man in the depth chart after the Thomas Bryant trade became official on Sunday morning. Luckily, it could pave the way for more opportunities for newly drafted 7-footer Kel’el Ware. He is now just one of two bigs on the roster, along with Kevin Love, behind Bam Adebayo.
Ware is coming off some dominant runs over in the g-league with the Sioux Skyforce team. He appeared in two outings for them, before recently re-joining the Heat. Both games came with double-double efforts and a pair of wins for the Skyforce.
He dropped 17 points, 12 rebounds, two steals and two blocks on 7 of 14 shooting (50%) in the first win over the Windy City Bulls. More of his two-way impact was displayed in the following outing, where he recorded 20 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.
With Ware back in the fold with Miami, it is unlikely he sees anymore g-league reps anytime soon. The Heat are going to need him for big man insurance as one of just three bigs listed on the roster. Currently, coach Erik Spoelstra has been going with Love to back up Adebayo in the rotation. However, Love has a lot of miles under his belt as a 36 year-old veteran. And he has dealt with minor injury issues throughout the 2024-25 season as back spasms have kept him out of some games.
At some point it seems like Ware could be well positioned for a chance at a real rotation spot. He brings elements to the game that Love doesn’t have at this stage of his career. The athleticism, rim protection and paint finishing are all the best attributes of Ware’s game that can provide an instant impact on the Heat.
His size and length makes an intriguing addition to where Miami would like to be, especially on the defensive end. In Ware’s brief playing time that he has gotten this season, he's only averaged 2.4 points and 1.6 rebounds in just 6.9 minutes across 10 appearances. It has been clear that Spoelstra is going with the more patient development route with the 20 year-old.
Ware is certainly a raw offensive player and needs to improve his basketball IQ, but the recent Skyforce outings showed a glimpse of what he could look like if given a real role. It will be interesting to see if he can carve out any minutes moving forward with the Heat down a big in the depth chart now.
There is still plenty of time to develop into an impactful two-way anchor, such as how he looked in the Sioux Falls.