Though the Miami Heat traded for Norman Powell on Monday morning, the team is currently going through their NBA Summer League program. Two players featured on the team are the Heat’s first-round pick Kasparas Jakucionis and the 15th overall pick from the year prior Kel’el Ware.As each is getting work in to prepare for the upcoming season, it’s no doubt been a frustrating start for the rookie in Jakucionis, as through two summer league games, including the loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, he’s totaled seven points. Looking at the shooting numbers, he’s made one field goal out of 10 attempts from the field, missing all seven three-point shots.
However, one person who has given him advice is Ware, who was in the same position last year as a rookie entering Miami’s Summer League program, emphasizing that this time is needed for progress, according to The Miami Herald.
“I was speaking to him yesterday, because we walked back from the game, and I was just telling him, ‘Hey, you know, it’s summer league for a reason. You work on your stuff,’” Ware said of his message to Jakucionis. “I told him if you’re going to shoot, don’t think about it. You let it go, trust yourself.”
As for Ware, he has totaled 26 points through two games with 12 on Sunday against the Lakers to go along with three rebounds in 28 minutes.
“I’m just getting back into the flow of it,” Ware said. “It’s been a little while from game-time play. It’s about fitting into game-time situations.”
Heat’s Kel’el Ware impressing during Summer League
There’s no denying that the Heat see Ware as a near untouchable piece as proven by Kevin Durant trade talks, and it could be easy to see why he’s coming off an impressive rookie season. While he didn’t start last season guns blazing due to limited playing time, he became Miami’s starting center for a majority of the second half of the season, leading to impressive performances, resulting in being honored on the NBA’s All-Rookie second team.
Besides the size he brings to Miami along with his presence at the rim, he showed off his improvement from deep as against Los Angeles, and had a step-back three-pointer that impressed fans.
“I mean that’s something that showed up at the moment,” Ware said after the loss to Lakers about his step-back three. “But playing around in the gym, you just do certain things, so it’s something I’ve gotten used to doing. So it’s nothing brand new for me.”
Ware would also have a spectacular dunk that would go viral, as it was another occasion to show the immense talent present in the Indiana product. Summer League head coach Eric Glass would say that Ware was “strong” in the contest, as the goal was to continue to show off his skills during this time period.
“Kel’el has had moments where he’s been strong and moments where we want some more from him, and we’ll continue to push him with that,” Glass said.
At any rate, Ware will look to improve and hopefully continue to help Jakucionis during his rookie season as the next Summer League game is against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.
