![\"Kel'el](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753571170_402_Screenshot-7-16-9.23AM-edited-1024x683.jpg\")
Miami Heat big Kel\u2019el Ware averaged 9.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game as a rookie. (Mandatory Credit: Patrick McDermott \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\nMiami Heat big Kel\u2019el Ware averaged 9.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game as a rookie. (Mandatory Credit: Patrick McDermott \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
While consistency \u2014 or lack thereof \u2014 troubled Kel\u2019el Ware throughout his rookie season, he undoubtedly showed plenty of flashes last season with the Miami Heat.<\/p>\n
The former No. 15 overall pick averaged 9.3 points and 7.4 rebounds on 55.4 percent shooting and 60.3 percent true shooting. <\/p>\n
After an uneven Summer League, an anonymous Heat executive recently opined to Spotrac\u2019s Keith Smith that this upcoming season will be \u201cbig\u201d for him and his development.<\/p>\n
\u201cBig, big year coming for him. He\u2019s another guy who won\u2019t settle for anything other than being great,\u201d a Heat front office executive said.<\/a> \u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to watching the leap he\u2019s going to take as a second-year guy. Perfect fit with Bam (Adebayo) in our versatile frontcourt. Couldn\u2019t be happier with how he\u2019s coming along.\u201d<\/p>\n The 2025-26 season will be big for Kel\u2019el Ware:<\/p>\n I would disagree with the executive that he was or will be a \u201cperfect\u201d fit with Adebayo.<\/p>\n He started 36 games alongside the Heat\u2019s three-time All-Star, and over his final 20 games, he averaged 10.6 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. <\/p>\n The on-court fit alongside the Heat\u2019s three-time All-Star wasn\u2019t perfect \u2014 in fact, the spacing was clunky far more often than not. He did help ease pressure off Adebayo. However, the two still occupied the same spaces more often than you\u2019d like, and they were still a middling offense despite grading in the 91st percentile in effective field goal percentage and 98th percentile in 3-point percentage, according <\/a>to Cleaning The Glass.<\/p>\n Correlation doesn\u2019t equal causation, but there\u2019s merit to how well they fit \u2014 or don\u2019t fit \u2014 together on the court.<\/p>\n All that said, this year is big for Ware. First of all, the Heat don\u2019t have any backup big<\/a>; Vlad Goldin, while he was good in the Heat\u2019s final Summer League game, isn\u2019t quite ready, and there\u2019s no shame in that. <\/p>\n I think they should kick the tires<\/a> on Richaun Holmes, though I am not anticipating them to go deeper into the tax before they get out of it. You\u2019d be hard-pressed <\/a>to find another playable backup big option in free agency.<\/p>\n Thus, I am expecting Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra to stagger him and Adebayo as much as humanly possible. In fact, I think there\u2019s a world where Ware doesn\u2019t start for that very reason \u2014 but we\u2019ll see what the roster looks like come October.<\/p>\n He was also objectively underwhelming in Summer League. He finished strong, but he was still below average as a(n offensive) rebounder, rim deterrent and screener. He took what Erik Spoelstra said as a challenge \u2014 and succeeded \u2014 but he will need to be far more consistent<\/a> than he was over the last six months.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no doubt that the talent is there. His ceiling is sky high if he can consistently put it all together, and he\u2019s going to need to for the Heat to have success in 2025-26.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n To check out our other content, click\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Twitter\/X\u00a0here<\/a>!<\/p>\n Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Instagram\u00a0here<\/a>!<\/p>\n Subscribe to our YouTube channel\u00a0here<\/a>!<\/p>\n \t\t\t