Heat uses NBA Draft to add size to roster, selecting Indiana center Kel’el Ware at pick No. 15

The Miami Heat used the first round of this year’s NBA Draft to add much-needed size to its roster.

The Heat took Indiana center Kel’el Ware with the 15th overall pick in Wednesday night’s NBA Draft held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The Heat is set to make one more pick in this year’s draft with the 13th selection of the second round — the 43rd overall pick of the draft — on Thursday (4 p.m., ESPN), as the second round of the two-round draft will be held on its own day this year for the first time in NBA history at ESPN’s Seaport District Studios in New York.

Ware, who has drawn comparisons to NBA players such as Myles Turner and Jarrett Allen, stands at 7-feet and 230 pounds with a 7-5 wingspan. That size paired with Ware’s improved three-point shot on the offensive end and impressive shot-blocking ability on the defensive end makes him an intriguing candidate to play alongside All-Star center Bam Adebayo in the Heat’s frontcourt to anchor bigger lineups.

“I feel I’ll be able to fit well with the Heat, just being at that five position to help Bam out with Bam potentially going to the four and just being able to space the floor out,” Ware said Wednesday night during a call with South Florida reporters shortly after being drafted by the Heat. “Everything will be much easier for the whole team, especially moving fast-pace up and down the court.”

Ware, 20, averaged 15.9 points, 9.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 58.6 percent from the field and 17 of 40 (42.5 percent) from three-point range in 30 games (30 starts) as a sophomore at Indiana last season.

Those were much-improved numbers from Ware’s freshman season, when he averaged 6.7 points, four rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 15 of 53 (28.3 percent) on threes in 34 games (four starts) at Oregon during the 2022-23 season before transferring to Indiana.

“Kel’el is a three-and-D center,” Heat vice president of basketball operations and assistant general manager Adam Simon said to reporters shortly after the end of Wednesday’s first round. “It is not easy to find 7-footers who can play out on the perimeter offensively and also be able to defend with his ability to shot block and defend the post. For us, that was very appealing.”

Among those the Heat bypassed to draft Ware at No. 15 were Tennessee wing Dalton Knecht, Southern Cal guard Isaiah Collier, Colorado forward Tristan Da Silva, Kansas wing Johnny Furphy, Marquette guard Tyler Kolek, Duke guard Jared McCain and Baylor wing Ja’Kobe Walter. They were all still on the board when Miami picked.

According to the NBA’s scouting report on Ware, he “possesses a highly-coveted skill set. He can stretch the floor on offense while protecting the rim on defense. The big man has an array of post moves at his disposal and can find open teammates when facing a double team. In the pick-and-roll, Ware can pop out to three, be a capable passer in the short roll or finish lobs. Defensively, Ware is able to utilize his length and 7-foot frame to stay vertical and erase shots at the rim.”

The NBA’s scouting report adds that “Ware’s skill set is comparable to Myles Turner and Mo Bamba when considering their abilities to stretch the floor on offense and provide elite rim protection on defense” and that “Ware has the potential to be a starting big man in the NBA.”

The Ringer’s scouting report described Ware as a player who “could be a rookie lob threat and rim protector in the mold of Dereck Lively II. But if Ware’s 3-pointer translates as well as it did during his sophomore year at Indiana, he could bring an added dimension to Miami’s defense next to Bam Adebayo.”

But Ware’s effort and focus were called into question by some pre-draft scouting reports, as the Ringer’s scouting report noted that his “effort and focus have wavered going back to high school. He’ll disappear for an entire half. His desire to box out and play with physicality is a notable concern, and he’s been bullied by players of a comparable size to him.”

Ware, who is from Arkansas, is still eligible to be included as part of a potential trade this offseason. However, Ware won’t be eligible to be traded for 30 days after signing his rookie contract, which can happen starting on Monday.

Ware is slotted to make about $4.2 million this upcoming season as the 15th pick and will be under team control for five seasons. Next up for Ware is likely summer league basketball with the Heat in San Francisco and Las Vegas, with the team scheduled to travel to the West Coast next week to begin summer league practices.

Ware worked out for the Heat at Kaseya Center on June 6, doing enough to convince Miami’s top decision-makers to draft him in the first round.

“I tried to show them what I could do at the workout, what I was capable of doing and I see that they liked it,” Ware said of his pre-draft workout with the Heat.

The Heat announced that Ware will wear No. 7, which is the same number that guards Goran Dragic and Kyle Lowry wore during their time with the Heat.

As for other teams around the Eastern Conference who picked ahead of the Heat, the Atlanta Hawks selected French forward Zaccharie Risacher with the top pick, the Washington Wizards drafted French center Alex Sarr at No. 2, the Detroit Pistons took G League Ignite wing Ron Holland at No. 5, the Charlotte Hornets selected French forward Tidjane Salaun at No. 6 and the Chicago Bulls drafted G League Ignite forward Matas Buzelis at No. 11.

“To be honest, it was so many emotions just rushing through,” Ware said of the moment he learned that he was being drafted by the Heat at No. 15. “Once my agent told me that’s where I was going, it’s like all my memories from growing up playing basketball started to just rush through my head.”

WHERE HEAT’S ROSTER STANDS

The Heat’s current salary-cap breakdown now includes eight players on guaranteed salaries for next season: Jimmy Butler ($48.8 million), Adebayo ($34.8 million), Tyler Herro ($29 million), Terry Rozier ($24.9 million), Duncan Robinson ($19.4 million), Ware ($4.2 million), Jaime Jaquez Jr. ($3.7 million) and Nikola Jovic ($2.5 million).

A few more players could be added to that list this week depending on what Caleb Martin ($7.1 million player option), Kevin Love ($4 million player option), Josh Richardson ($3.1 million player option) and Thomas Bryant ($2.8 million) decide to do with the player options in their contracts for next season.

Assuming Martin doesn’t opt in because he can get more money and guaranteed years in free agency while Love, Richardson and Bryant all opt in to modest deals to return next season, the Heat has about $177.2 million in salaries committed to 11 players for next season.

When adding whatever the cap hit ends up being for the Heat’s second-round selection and the $2.5 million in unlikely bonuses for Herro that need to be included for apron calculations, that Heat will have just over $180 million in salaries committed to 12 players.

The Heat also has a decision to make with center Orlando Robinson. Miami has until July 15 to guarantee developmental center Orlando Robinson’s full $2.1 million salary for this upcoming season. If the Heat decides not to guarantee Orlando Robinson’s salary, he would become an unrestricted free agent.

Regardless of what the Heat chooses to do with Robinson, the Heat doesn’t have much room to fill its roster without surpassing the ultrapunitive second apron — a threshold that Miami prefers not to cross because of the onerous trade restrictions that come with it.

With the projected salary cap for the 2024-25 season set at $141 million and the projected luxury tax set at $171.3 million, that means a payroll for next season already in excess of $180 million puts the Heat in luxury-tax territory, above the punitive first apron of $178.7 million and not far from the dreaded second apron of $189.5 million with a few roster spots still to fill for next season.

The Heat won’t have the full $12.9 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception this summer unless it sheds enough salary to get under the first apron.

If the Heat is above the first apron but stays below the second apron, it would have the projected $5.2 million taxpayer midlevel exception to add to its roster this offseason. But using it could significantly increase the Heat’s tax bill and would hard cap the Heat at the second apron for all of next season.

If the Heat is above the second apron, it would no longer have access to the $5.2 million taxpayer midlevel exception. The Heat would essentially only have minimum contracts to offer outside free agents during the 2024-25 NBA calendar as a second-apron team.

Since the Heat has no cap space and is already close to crossing the second apron, the only realistic way to add outside talent this offseason is through the draft, a trade and/or with minimum contracts unless a move is made to change the salary-cap math.

Along with the four Heat players holding player options and Orlando Robinson’s non-guaranteed contract, the Heat’s impending unrestricted free agents this offseason are Haywood Highsmith, Patty Mills and Delon Wright. The Heat’s two-way contract players from last season (Jamal Cain, Cole Swider and Alondes Williams) will also be free agents this summer.

NBA teams were allowed to begin negotiating with their own impending free agents on June 18 after the NBA Finals ended. But free agents can’t begin negotiating with outside teams until Sunday at 6 p.m.