With Miami Heat big man Kel’el Ware now having a full NBA season under his belt, it looks like the Heat might’ve hit a home run when they drafted him with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.

He finished the 2024-25 campaign in the top seven among all qualified first-year players in points, rebounds and blocked shots per contest, and encouragingly, he played some of his best basketball after the All-Star break. In 26 regular-season games following the break, he nearly averaged a double-double with 10.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.

On the heels of Ware’s impressive maiden season, Ethan J. Skolnick of Five Reasons Sports has reported that the Heat appear “reluctant” to include the youngster in a trade package.

“An update: Not that this should come as a surprise, but the sense I’m getting is that the Miami Heat are reluctant to include Ke’lel Ware in a package,” Skolnick wrote via Discord. “Deal breaker? I can’t say that. But they will definitely do what they can to avoid it.”

Miami has been in rumors related to Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant as of late. ESPN’s Shams Charania recently listed the Heat as one of several teams interested in making a move for the two-time NBA champion and scoring machine.

🚨 RUMOR: The Miami Heat are among the main teams who have expressed interest in Kevin Durant , per @ShamsCharania pic.twitter.com/p3XJqUXdbe

https://twitter.com/HeatNationCom/status/1932837487904280605?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Plus, Five Reasons Sports reported back in May that “lots of people” think the Heat could offload their sole first-round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft in a trade for Durant. The Heat hold the No. 20 overall pick with the draft less than two weeks away.

Miami may be smart to be hesitant to include Ware in any sort of trade considering the rookie season he enjoyed and his fit next to big man Bam Adebayo in the frontcourt. Ware and Adebayo could be one of the better two-way frontcourts in the league for years to come, as Adebayo is already a legitimate star, and Ware is trending in the right direction toward stardom.

For now, people should seemingly expect Ware to still be a member of the Heat franchise when the 2025-26 season starts, but it’s a safe bet that Miami is still going to explore tons of options to upgrade its roster this summer.