![\"Bam](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-03-04-at-11.18.50-AM-edited-1024x683.jpg\")
(Mandatory Credit: Tomas Diniz Santos\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n(Mandatory Credit: Tomas Diniz Santos\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
One of the premier positives of the rocky 2025-26 Miami Heat season was how many of their young players progressed, namely Kel\u2019el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Pelle Larsson.<\/p>\n
Ware, in particular, showcased several flashes of stardom \u2014 even though consistency still lacked from the sophomore big. Nevertheless, Ware turned in a productive year across 77 games, averaging 11.0 points and nine rebounds across 22.1 minutes per game.<\/p>\n
During his end-of-season press conference last week, Heat star and captain Bam Adebayo, who oftentimes played alongside Ware, shared an interesting perspective as to why Ware can be \u201cgreat.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like he can be great.\u201d he said.<\/a> \u201cI feel like Kel\u2019el is a lot more comfortable when I\u2019m out there just because somebody\u2019s actively talking to him. And that might be aggravating, but that was [Dwyane Wade] when I was rookie, when I was a second-year player. He used to piss me all of the time because he used to always talk to me. Him and [Udonis Haslem] \u2014 one was in the game aggravating me and then I would come to the bench and then it was UD getting on my nerves.<\/p>\n \u201cYou need that if you want to tap into your ceiling if you want to get to places where you don\u2019t think you can get. You need those conversations; you need those buildups; you need those honest conversations \u2026 It\u2019s helped me, so my job is to help him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The Kel\u2019el Ware-Bam Adebayo tandem was still a mixed bag in 2025-26:<\/p>\n One of the bigger storylines throughout the season revolved around Ware and Adebayo\u2019s playing time \u2014 or lack thereof \u2014 together. Through the first three months, the duo looked horrendous. But an early February bout against the lowly Washington Wizards flipped the script, thus gaining more trust from Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra.<\/p>\n It was still a mixed bag, but Ware-Adebayo together finished with plus-6.7 NET, a steady improvement from the plus-4.2 NET a year ago, according to Cleaning The Glass. However, it is slighly deceiving.<\/p>\n They feasted on poor frontcourts, while struggled to find consistency against anything average or better. Across 189 minutes against bottom-10 teams, they were a plus-30.1; in 250 minutes against defenses ranked in the top-half, they were a dismal minus-9.7.<\/p>\n While it\u2019s imperative they continue to build more comfortability with one another next year, it\u2019s just as important they develop more consistency against stiffer competition to justify those minutes. We\u2019ve seen Adebayo hold the fort; we\u2019ve seen, at times, Ware hold down the fort.<\/p>\n Now it would behoove the Heat to figure out how both can do it together.<\/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 Check out Hot Hot Hoops on Facebook\u00a0here<\/a>!<\/p>\n Subscribe to our YouTube channel\u00a0here<\/a>!<\/p>\n \t\t\t