Kel’el Ware might have the highest ceiling of the Miami Heat’s young core. But as NBA writer Sam Vecenie points out, he’s still very much a work in progress, and the unfortunate part about that is, right now, his upside may not translate to winning basketball every night.
It's a dilemma that Erik Spoelstra is facing as the team's head coach, and one reality that fans must be willing to accept. It's a big reason why there's so much volatility when it comes to his minutes played on a night-to-night basis.
In theory, you want your hot, young talent prospect to get as many minutes as possible. In a vacuum, that's probably the easiest and most efficient way to achieve his development. However, for the Heat, they've handled their development of young players differently.
Kel'el Ware's development has been a hot topic
Miami likes to develop in the shadows, bringing along players slowly before the big show. We saw that with Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo, and even with Kasparas Jakucionis recently. More specifically, Ware has been brought along slowly as well, perhaps even slower than most Heat fans would like to see.
And it's been a point of contention among the fan base. Especially because the Heat is valuing winning above all right now, it's become difficult to balance developing Ware while also putting the best product on the floor.
Because, as you'd expect, developing young players comes with both peaks and valleys.
There are some nights when it feels like Ware can't do wrong. On the other hand, there are also games in which it looks like Ware can do no right. But that's often what the development of a young player looks like.
Miami just hasn't had much patience for that.
Kel'el Ware is still a raw devensive project
For Ware specifically, his struggles have often come on the defensive end of the floor. Offensively, he's one of the most talented 7-footers in the league. Whether it's his ability to clean up the boards, score in the paint, or stretch defenses to the 3-point line, Ware seems to have an appealing skill set on that end of the floor.
But defensively, he's too inconsistent for Spo's liking. And for a team that likes to build its identity on the defensive end of the floor, that's where the real issues come with Ware.
Whether it's being in the wrong spot, rotating too slowly, or just having bad 1-on-1 fundamentals, Ware is still very much a work in progress on that end of the floor. And, especially for Spo, that's the easiest way for a player, as talented as Ware is, to play himself off the court.
The Heat would rather win than develop
For better or worse, the Heat would much rather make the Play-In Tournament than trade some of those wins for greater development of their young core. Right or wrong, in fairness to the Heat, they've been consistent with that philosophy.
It's one that many in the fan base have often pushed back against, but it's a core value that the Heat have strongly held on to.
That's likely a big reason why it's hard for Spo to find any level of consistency for Ware's minutes. It can be debated whether that's fair to Ware or if it's beneficial to the Heat's future, but it's hard to envision that changing much.
Ware is extremely talented and has a high ceiling, but he's still very much a work in progress. And the growing pains for Ware are unlikely to stop anytime soon.