One person inquired about Miami Heat rookie Kel’el Ware’s chances of playing ahead of Kevin Love in the rotation, and Ira Winderman seems to think that head coach Erik Spoelstra will roll with the more experienced Love as the team’s backup big man to start the 2024-25 NBA season.
“But Kel’el Ware also is entering a win-now situation, particularly at the beginning of the season,” Winderman wrote. “The Heat essentially spent last season attempting to recover from their uneven start. So I would think Erik Spoelstra would go early with his best, win-now rotation. And Kevin Love did not return to play an emeritus role. He re-signed to play. When he wasn’t playing in Cleveland, he requested a buyout. I doubt his attitude has changed in the interim.
“Tyler Herro was a No. 13 pick and played all but eight of his rookie-season games off the bench. Bam Adebayo was a No. 14 pick and played all but 19 of his rookie games off the bench. Yes, starting and being a rotation reserve are two different things. But it would seem the best way for Kel’el Ware to be a rotation reserve would be to show he could play alongside Bam. When that becomes an option, then anything and everything become possible.”
Ware was selected with the first non-lottery pick of the 2024 NBA Draft, and he is not far removed from an impressive two-way showing in the Las Vegas Summer League. He averaged 18.0 points on 61.8 percent shooting from the floor along with 8.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game across six contests.
Also, in regards to Ware’s fit alongside Adebayo in the frontcourt, the youngster at least seems to believe that he has the skills necessary to complement the three-time NBA All-Star.
“Me and Bam can definitely play beside each other because we complement each other so well,” said Ware. “His position is really the four, and so me coming in as the five man, I can protect the paint and just being able to do what I always do.”
Ware’s knacks for blocking shots and scoring the ball on the interior could prove to be valuable to a Heat team that isn’t exactly loaded with productive paint presences.
But one can see why Winderman thinks Spoelstra will play Love ahead of Ware — at least to start the 2024-25 regular season — when taking a look at the latter’s experience playing in the NBA.
Love has 16 seasons in the NBA under his belt, and he has played in several different roles in that time. Earlier on in his career, he got a taste of what it’s like to be a franchise player, as he starred for the Minnesota Timberwolves for a sizable period of time.
Later in his career, Love was able to experience a lot more collective success. He played alongside LeBron James and Kyrie Irving on the Cleveland Cavaliers for three seasons, and during that span, the team won one title in 2016 and reached three championship series.
Fast forward to more recently, and he was an important part of Miami’s rotation in the 2023-24 regular season. He appeared in 55 games (five starts) in his second season with the Heat and averaged 8.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per contest.
