Heat summer league hero has gone to zero in preseason

There was a lot to look forward to following the Miami Heat’s 2024 15th overall draft selection of Kel’el Ware. Although coming into the league at a young age of 20 years old, he has impressive raw talent. Those abilities were on full display during the team’s undefeated summer league championship run, as Ware averaged 17.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks. 

He proved to be the perfect big man Miami coveted over the years. Those games featured plenty of shot-making in different ways, including finishes at the rim, a midrange touch, and even floor-spreading potential from 3-point range. Most importantly, he brings a true 7-foot presence and natural rim protector to the depth chart.

The intriguing part for Heat fans was the possibility of playing both alongside and behind Bam Adebayo in the frontcourt. Some have even hoped that coach Erik Spoelstra wouldn’t take the development course with Ware but instead throw him into the fire.

After a strong summer league showing from Kel’el Ware, he’s been on the outside looking in during preseason.

It turns out that Spoelstra is opting to go the longer and more patient development route with his new big man. Ware has received zero minutes with the team’s first and second units during the preseason. In fact, even Thomas Bryant has been ahead of him in Spoelstra’s depth chart. 

Kevin Love, who is looking really sharp and refreshed in a backup role to Adebayo, has mostly been the first big off the bench so far. It was always unclear exactly how Spoelstra’s rotation would look, especially with the bigs. However, he has been playing it safe by giving the majority of the backup minutes to his savvy veteran in Love rather than a rookie with no NBA experience. 

At the end of the day, Spoelstra’s lineups have worked. The Heat improved to 3-1 in the preseason following Wednesday night’s win against the Atlanta Hawks. In each of the wins, it has been close to a full dress rehearsal with the starters getting extended runs. 

It is still unfortunate for Ware, who has attempted to make the best of his opportunities. He made a few winning plays late in the fourth quarter over the last couple of games, featuring some crucial dunks and blocks in limited minutes. In the first game against the Charlotte Hornets, Ware put up 13 points (tied for a team-high), five rebounds, four blocks and two steals in 17 minutes of action. 

The hungry rookie didn’t receive playing time until the third quarter of that game, yet still impacted the game in different ways. It seems like Spoelstra is going with a slower-paced development process, which makes it just a matter of time before Ware bursts onto the scene.

He has some work to do in beefing up his size, improving his conditioning and sharpening his knowledge of the game, but he has all the tools to become a strong piece for the Heat down the road. 

But for now, barring any injuries, Ware may be the odd man out of the Heat rotation moving forward.