Reasons Why Miami Heat Drafting Kel'el Ware At No. 15 Will And Won't Work

Zach Buckley | Jun 28, 2024

Mar 15, 2024; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Indiana Hoosiers center Kel'el Ware (1) dunks against the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the second half at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports / Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Heat were determined to add size to their roster during the 2024 NBA offseason.

They wasted no time in making that happen.

They spent their first pick of this week's NBA draft (the 15th overall) on Kel'el Ware, a 7-footer who split his two-year college career between Oregon and Indiana. He came to life with the Hoosiers this past season, averaging 15.9 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks while flashing newfound accuracy from long range (17-of-40 from three, 42.5 percent).

The Heat clearly took note of Ware's perimeter progress. Spacing is already at a premium with the Bam Adebayo-Jimmy Butler pairing, so the idea of adding Ware to the mix shows Miami buys the sustainability of his outside shot. Adam Simons, vice president of basketball operations and assistant general manager, even went so far as to to call Ware a "3-and-D center."

If this partnership is going to work, that's the blueprint for success. It's having Ware keep defenses honest from distance while Butler and Adebayo attack the basket, then having Ware protect the defensive paint while Butler and Adebayo effortlessly cycle through switches away from it.

Squint through a pair of Vice City-inspired lenses, and you can see this working out in a big way for Miami.

Of course, if you come from a more pessimistic angle, you can question the viability of Ware as an actual long-range threat. Forty shots in 30 games is a tiny amount of volume. Ware was also a nonfactor from three at Oregon (15-of-55, 27.3 percent) and a bad free-throw shooter throughout his collegiate career (66 percent). If he can't improve the spacing, then he can't log significant minutes with Miami's two best players.

The defense part of that "3-and-D" label isn't guaranteed, either. Ware has the length and mobility to be an asset on that end, but his level of engagement sometimes leaves plenty to be desired. Maybe the Heat can #culture that out of him, but ESPN's Jonathan Givony relayed how Ware's "lack of intensity from his recent pre-draft workouts caused several teams to speculate he might fall all the way to the end of the first round or possibly to the second round."

This was a polarizing pick. There is no question about that. That doesn't mean it was a wasted one, obviously, but there are ways this could go wrong. Or right. We shall see.

Zach Buckley works as a contributing writer to Inside the Heat. He can be reached at zbuck07@gmail.com or follow him on X @ZachBuckleyNBA.

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