The NBA Has A Kel’el Ware PROBLEM..

The NBA Has A Kel’el Ware PROBLEM..

21-year-old Khalil Wear is passing the eye test. Early on during the preseason, he just had a signature game going up against the Spurs. 29 points, 12 rebounds. And this sequence just showcases how dynamic and unique of a player he is as a sevenfooter here. The Heat are deep into the shot clock. They have nothing going on. He catches with 4 seconds left. And look at what he does. One dribble and fire away from deep. overwhi like it’s nothing. A small detail about this play I enjoy. Notice how he’s acting nonchalantly. I mean, at this point, based on his body language as a defender, you’re guessing he probably goes into a dribble handoff, not a step back. Now he’s protecting the rim in the pick and roll. A pitch perfect contest to force a miss. He’s not done yet. On the other end, he hits another three-pointer. This wasn’t an easy catch and shoot. He was backing up. Another saved possession by his shooting ability. And his shot is pure and effortless. The form is pitch perfect. I have no doubt in my mind he will grow into a near 40% three-point shooter during his prime. Do you agree? Let me know your thoughts below. But here’s the icing on the cake. The next defensive possession, he locks up WBY, stands his ground, and avoids the foul while blocking him. That’s backto backto backto back plays from him on both ends of the floor. He’s blooming into a two-way player as you can tell. Also, when I watch, I always notice how he makes tall players look like shrimps, and that’s just not the case with wear. And I think that puts in perspective how much space he takes up on defense due to his length. Combo that with great lateral quickness for his size, it’s just a killer combo. And we talked about his height, but he also has a 7 foot5 wingspan. This is a perfect play to showcase the advantage this gives him. Imagine being Luke Cornet in this spot. There’s not much you could do better. I mean, he’s so close to tipping that lob pass, but where’s ability to go up and get it from wherever the heavens? It’s just too much. This makes him one of the best lob threats the NBA has to offer. This is a great play to showcase his versatility. He gets screened off WBY. Great job by Hakez switching and staying strong. Wear is also there for backup. So now WBY has to pass. But here’s the thing. Now where is guarding a point guard? Guess what? He gets tested. He closes out. There’s an opportunity to blow past him. But the opponent has no interest in testing his shot blocking ability. Overall, he’s quicker than most guys his size when it comes to lateral quickness and just the size and length and rim protection. scares guards from testing him or other positions. Now, I’d say his most underrated skill is making quick decisions. So, on Basketball Index, a site where scouts and NBA front offices use to judge players based off data and analytics, there is a category for quick decision-making percentage. Last season, as a rookie, he was graded a plus, 98th percentile. Okay, he was elite. This is a perfect play to showcase just that. Yakonis gets a block rebound to wear. Notice he doesn’t waste any time to pass it ahead. Couple seconds later, he gets it back. He knows the next pass before he even catches. And because of that quick decision, that close out has no chance of affecting the shot. He just missed. Now, this looks like a simple play, but in the modern NBA, everyone is so quick. So having a player on the court that doesn’t process the game quickly can truly tank a lineup. And at his position and size, it’s hard to find that quality to be honest with you. And my goodness, his athletic ability is special. He misses the floater, but he’s quicker to the ball, tips it up, gathers it in, and then.5 seconds later, he’s right back up elevating to the rim. It’s just impressive how quick he went from that tip to dunking. He did all of that. Meanwhile, Cornett is basically stuck in place trying to recover. That gives you an idea how ahead he is from most centers from an athletic standpoint. I mean, look at the respect from Cornet. He does not want wear shooting an open three under any circumstance. A simple pump fake, one dribble, and he’s already at the rim. He just moves so gracefully at his size. Just an athletic freak of nature. Eric Spolstra last season at one point mentioned that he needs to work on impacting the game more consistently from minute to minute. Just getting those flashy blocks and dunks won’t be enough. I think yesterday’s game was a great example of what he wants out of wear. The three-pointers were nice, but he was locked in defensively, always in the right spot, switching when he had to, helping when he needed to, and also was up and down the court as quick as possible. That’s really important for him. He really brought the energy. His motor as a rookie could have been better. At his size and his athletic ability, they want more from him in that aspect. When he’s playing hard, he can do crazy things like that play where he dunked on Cornet. The Heat want him beating every single big down the floor whenever he has an opportunity because it gives them an immediate advantage and he should. He’s more athletic and faster than most bigs. That’s something to watch for. Does he ignite energy into the team consistently? Does he play hard 24/7? How is he getting up and down the court? And how’s he crashing the glass? Is he doing it every single opportunity? Because nothing is more annoying than an opposing big grabbing offensive rebounds and gifting his team second chance opportunities. Now, as you can tell, his game offensively is mostly about finesse. For example, as a rookie, he shot 80 floaters or hook shots, 40.5% on floaters, 42.1% on hook shots. Improving those from an efficiency standpoint can do wonders for him when it comes to taking another step on that end because he relies heavily on those shot types. For perspective, he took 96 layups last season. That factored in standing layups, driving out the oop, cutting, putback, and fast break layups. Just 50% in layups as a rookie, which is 18th percentile, aka not very good for a guy his size. Clearly, that’s not good enough. And that’s something to keep an eye on moving forward. Can he improve in that area? Also, I think he has to do a better job playing through contact. That might be an issue. He really doesn’t put pressure on the defender in that aspect. He is not, you know, going through anyone at any given point in time. He’s usually just trying to shoot it over them or around them. It gets very fishy for him finishing around the rim when he doesn’t have a free dunk. Now, of course, I think he will always be a finesse player based on his slender build and touch. That’s just the way he is. I think he can still improve when it comes to using his strength and size still as a downhill force despite being a finesse player, but honestly with his build, it’s kind of expected. And you see this weakness in his screening ability as well. Basketball index graded him F as a screening talent. Obviously, once again, considering his age and his build, this is an expected weakness. He’s still growing into his body. 5 years down the road, he’ll still be slender, but I’m sure he’ll be toned up and more muscle. But yeah, it’s pretty clear he has all the potential in the world. I can’t wait to see how he grows. Let me know your thoughts below.

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