Heat’s Bam Adebayo expects Kel’el Ware to be a “great player”

When Ware was selected with the Heat’s 15th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, it filled a big need for Miami, which was adding size to the team as he stands seven feet tall while not sacrificing athleticism. After sitting out the beginning of the season, he started to gain more playing time as the year went on, eventually becoming the mainstay at center in the starting lineup alongside Adebayo in the frontcourt.

Adebayo would express to ClutchPoints during Wednesday’s exit interviews about the expectations he has for Ware, which are not only being a “great player” in the NBA, but also being “in contention” for the Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) award.

“Man, I seen a kid that, Spo didn’t play him in the beginning, and we was begging him to play because we felt like he was a talent,” Adebayo said. “At some point, he got his chance, and he impacted winning. So I’m proud of him. Obviously, he’s gonna keep developing. He’s gonna keep growing, he’s gonna keep wanting to be his best version of himself, and we expect him to do that. So, you know, seeing what I’ve seen outside, not only out on that court, but also in the locker room, how he’s a great teammate.”

You know he’s willing to sacrifice for the betterment of the team. I think he can be a great player in this league,” Adebayo continued. “He’s one we will be constantly be talking about every year, he could be in contention for DPOY. Judging because y’all seen it, at some point he’ll think a guy gotta lay up, and then it’s four rows in the stands. So, understand that he does have a talent, and he can showcase it.”

Heat’s Kel’el Ware examines his rookie season

Besides the impressive rookie season, which no doubt will earn him a spot on an All-Rookie team, there’s no doubt been rough patches, especially when Ware struggled during the Heat’s playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The opponents took advantage of the inexperience of Ware, pounding the paint and finding easy advantages.

Still, it shouldn’t take away from his regular season, where he would be a double-double machine, sporting a nice touch towards the rim on offense, and being a presence in the paint. He would even show off his ability to shoot from three-point range, as the sky seems to be the limit for the Indiana University product.

Ware would say to ClutchPoints on Wednesday that he believes there’s been improvement seen throughout the season.

“I feel like I got better,” Ware said. “Of course when I wasn’t playing at first, every day, working out every day, and when my time came, it came.”

What has been an area of growth doesn’t necessarily fully involve his play on the court, which is his ability to get stronger, as he mentioned that being a focus for this offseason.

Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on Kel’el Ware and the duo with Bam Adebayo

The Heat duo of Ware and Adebayo is one that was highly anticipated ever since the former was drafted, since the team’s captain had been the starting center for a while. With Adebayo coming out of college as a natural power forward, the Ware pick provided an opportunity to revert him to start games.

What resulted was high-energy play between the two, which made head coach Erik Spoelstra “encouraged” to see when speaking about the minutes they had together.

“Well, I was encouraged with the minutes that they had and the progress that they made,” Spoelstra said Wednesday. “And they found a way to complement each other and heighten each other’s strengths. And this will be, obviously, a really important summer for Kel’el. The last six, eight weeks were really important for him, just to heighten pressure and expectations of us driving to get into the playoffs, and the two play-in games, and then all the learning lessons from these four games.”

“I went back and looked at it yesterday. There’s just not a lot of guys from this draft class that played in the playoffs,” Spoelstra continued. “These are tough lessons, as they usually are in a playoff setting if you’re not advancing, it’s usually a tough lesson. And I’m grateful that Kel’el was able to get all of these experiences and set up for a really important summer.”

Ware looks to have a strong and improved second season, seemingly becoming a foundation piece for Miami.