Who Let The Miami Heat Get Away With This?

Who Let The Miami Heat Get Away With This?

How many centers in the NBA can do this with a baseline jam? 7t tall with a 75 wingspan at only 21 years old. That’s what Kel Wear can do. And if you’re wondering why he was able to pump fake Luke Cornet at the three-point line, it wasn’t because of bad defense. It’s because this is also what Kel Wear is capable of doing. Kell again. Kaboom again. Shot clock down to two where connects for three. All three of those plays happened in one quarter. Most centers would be lucky to make one of those plays throughout their entire career. And Kell is out here doing that numerous times in one quarter. And after a really good rookie season in which Kell averaged nearly a double double once he was fully in the rotation, he’s gone to a different level this preeason, averaging over 20 points and 11 rebounds a game whilst shooting 50% from three. And just like they always managed to do through the draft, once again, the Miami Heat have gotten an absolute steal. And I’m not saying that just because of some highlights or good performances in preeason. When you look at last year’s draft class, once KL Wear started getting consistent minutes in the Heat rotation, there was not a single rookie who put up better numbers or had a more consistent impact on actually helping his team win. with Kell not only averaging nearly a double double as a rookie, but averaging nearly two stocks a game and also having a positive plus minus in those games. And sure, you can say he was playing on a better team than other rookies. But guys, you know who Eric Spolstra is, right? You know who the Miami Heat are. If KLear was not contributing to winning, if he was not doing absolutely everything, he would not have been playing at all. The reason he started getting so many minutes last year was because he was making it impossible to not give him more minutes. And that’s because beyond being 7t tall with freakish athleticism and shooting touch from all three levels, he also makes an impact on defense as well. Just look at him here in isolation against Jason Tatum. Tatum sizes him up, crosses right, but even after creating a bit of separation. That’s the length of wear coming from behind and erasing Tatum’s shot at the rim. All this, which is a play I really like because of the patience he shows. Aldarm sets the screen where hedges, but as Bane stops, where doesn’t jump, he stays down and then just uses his length to swat Bane once he gets to the rim. and the advantage Wear has with his athleticism and his length. And this is going to sound painfully obvious, but it’s true. He can block shots that other players just simply cannot. And that forces players into doing things that they’re not comfortable with. Just watch here as Butler crosses Bam. And where isn’t quite ready to help over and even with the scoop shot, look at how high gets to block that before it’s on the way down. The advantage of being this freakishly athletic and long is you can get away with being a fraction late helping over and still make plays like that. Even when a player goes with the scoop shot high off the glass, you still have the ability to block the shot. Now, in saying that, he’s obviously not perfect defensively. If he was an elite defender with his offensive skill set, I mean, we would already be looking at a future AllNBA player. But as of now, he lacks some strength against bigger centers in the post. That lower body strength isn’t quite there. And like most rookies and players who love to block shots, whilst he can do it really well, he’s also quite eager and sometimes will jump at shots, fouling players or getting caught out of position as a result. All very improvable, but things that he still needs to work on. But the reality is when it comes to D, size matters. Sorry, terrible joke. It was there. It was just there for me. But Kel Wear does have the size and even through some of those problems he has defensively, it’s enough to make up for it. Now, getting back to the preseason, so far, those flashes we saw from Kell during his rookie season, being able to step out and hit the three ball. Obviously, being an insane lob threat and a roll threat, he’s just looking more and more dominant. And you can say it’s just preeason, but his last two games in which he has dominated were against Wemi and Luke Cornet. And then Wendel Carter Jr. and Gogabad. All good NBA centers, all good defensive players, all torched by Kel Wear. And if being able to catch lobs from out of space or step back threes isn’t impressive enough for you, uh firstly, you should consider finding a different sport, but luckily Kell has even more to his game. Whilst he might not have the perfect footwork or the lower body strength to be a consistent postcorer just yet, he does have the touch, which is even more important. Just watch him here. get the pocket pass from Yakonis. The floater isn’t there initially, so he bumps into Cornet, spins off him, and then hooks it over the top or this time where Kell is just entering the picture. He gets the ball on the move just inside the free throw line and then it’s a soft floater. This is something we saw throughout his rookie season. Not only can he hit threes and catch lobs, but he has the touch on those hook shots and those floaters that give him the balanced scoring game that you need as a modern big in the NBA. Now, you might have also noticed one other thing from those two clips I showed you. Did you notice? Here’s a hint. He was also a firstround pick recently. Kasparus Yakonis five times in one quarter. That is how many times Kasparus Yakonis assisted Kel Wear in the fourth quarter of this game. And just like we see every single year and like I’m talking about with Kel Wear, when Miami got their hands on Yakonis, the whole world side. Well, fans of 29 other teams side because Yakonis was never supposed to fall to the 20th overall pick. This is someone who a lot of draft experts had as a projected top 10 overall pick and almost everyone had him as a lottery pick, but once again, the Heat managed to outsmart the NBA. And whilst we haven’t seen nearly enough from him yet to suggest he’s a steel, anytime you see a rookie play with the poise and confidence that we saw from Kasparus in that fourth quarter, I’m ready to say they’re a steel. And you could just see their chemistry growing in real time with Yakonis’ 10th assist of the game coming off a beautiful lob to Kell. And these two guys going to compliment each other so so well. Getting both of these guys in back-to-back drafts despite having the 15th and 20th overall pick. I mean, it’s just the most Miami Heat thing ever. And just talking about Kel where he is so athletic and with his three-point shot only getting better plus that little in between game he has which is developing he’s going to be a walking double double in the NBA for as long as he plays. The only question will be how good can he get defensively and how can he round out other areas of his game. As of now he’s playmaking uh it’s pretty much non-existent. He is not a playmaker. He’s not the best screener. He can get shot hungry. He can get block hungry. These are all things that are pretty common with rookies. What isn’t common with rookies is someone who can catch lobs out of the sky, pump fake defenders, dunk on players, and hit step back threes as a sevenfooter. So, I’m going to hope that Kell improves on those other aspects of his game because the best parts of his game are things that 99% of the NBA can’t do. And another first round pick that I really like on this heat roster is Nicola Yovic. I made a video talking about him. So, if you want to watch that, click here. If you want to subscribe for more content like this, dropping a like would be cool.

Hes different
My Twitter: https://x.com/6ManYT