Miami Heat center Kel'El Ware (7) looks on during the second half of an NBA preseason game against the San Antonio Spurs at Kaseya Center on October 8, 2025, in Miami. D.A. Varela dvarela@miamiherald.com
Much of the focus surrounding the Miami Heat this preseason has been on center Kel’el Ware. There have been ups and downs, and there has already been a challenge issued by Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.
Through it all, Ware continues to move forward and grow as he prepares for his second NBA season.
“I’m encouraged by it,” Spoelstra said of Ware’s preseason so far. “Look, everybody has so much attention on him and what I’m going to say about him. He’s getting better. You can see the talent.”
Ware’s talent was on display in Sunday night’s 120-104 preseason loss to the Orlando Magic at Kia Center, finishing the exhibition with a game-high 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field, 2-of-4 shooting from three-point range and 4-of-4 shooting from the foul line to go with 10 rebounds, one assist and two steals in 25 minutes. He didn’t play in the fourth quarter.
But Ware’s play has been far from perfect this preseason. There have been lapses throughout the course of games, and his play hasn’t always translated to positive team results, but he has shown the ability to learn and improve from his mistakes.
“I would much rather coach somebody who’s willing to be coached, who can put up 24 [points] and 10 [rebounds], and figure out how to get those winning moments during the course of a game,” Spoelstra said before the Heat played its fifth of six preseason games on Monday night against the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena. “That’s where we are.”
Ware has proven he’s willing to be coached, taking Spoelstra’s public challenges in stride and responding with dominant efforts.
Even after Ware posted a standout stat line of 18 points and 13 rebounds in 23 minutes during last Monday’s exhibition loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, Spoelstra pointed to his rough plus/minus of minus-21.
“I’m not looking at the stat line,” Spoelstra said after that preseason game. “I think everybody is looking at the wrong thing. It’s got to impact the game. I want him the next game to be a plus-20. That’s what it’s about.”
Since then, Ware has averaged 26.5 points, 11 rebounds, one assist and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 58.3% from the field, 5 of 10 (50%) on threes and 6 of 7 (85.7%) from the foul line in the Heat’s last two exhibitions ahead of Monday’s preseason matchup against the Hawks.
“I always take anything that the coach says to me as motivation,” Ware, 21, said. “I take it and I try to impact it into my game, and I try to play as hard as I can. Like I said in the last interview, I was still getting my legs back under me from training camp. But that’s it.”
Ware finished Wednesday’s exhibition against the San Antonio Spurs as a plus-10 and Sunday’s exhibition against the Magic as a minus-12, but Spoelstra was able to look beyond the plus/minus this time around.
“He did some impressive things,” Spoelstra said of Ware following Sunday’s preseason loss in Orlando. “I love the way he was on the offensive glass, and we’ll just continue to work with him.”
Miami Heat center Kel'El Ware (7) shoots a three-pointer over Milwaukee Bucks forward Pete Nance (35) during the second half of an NBA preseason game at Kaseya Center on October 6, 2025, in Miami. D.A. Varela dvarela@miamiherald.com
In fact, Ware entered Monday leading the NBA with his average of 11 rebounds per game this preseason.
But despite Ware’s encouraging and sometimes dominant moments this preseason, the 7-footer appears to be on track to begin the regular season as a role after ending last season as starter and one of the league’s best rookies. Bam Adebayo and Ware, who closed last season as Miami’s starting frontcourt, have yet to play together in the exhibition season.
Adebayo has started and Ware has played off the bench in three of the first four exhibitions. Ware started Sunday, but only because Adebayo was held out on the front end of the preseason back-to-back set.
“Well, we did see some good moments with them last year and I’ll continue to be open to it,” Spoelstra said Sunday about his decision to stagger the preseason moments of Adebayo and Ware. “We’re looking at some other things right now, but all things are on the table.”
Ware, who was taken by the Heat with the 15th overall pick in last year’s draft, earned a spot on the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. Now, he’s working to earn Spoelstra’s full trust and to prove that he can impact winning consistently.
“That’s the kind of passion and intent that we would like to see more consistently,” Spoelstra said when discussing Ware’s recent play this preseason. “That’s young players in this league. There aren’t many young players that come into this league that are impacting winning right away.”
JAKUCIONIS INJURED, MITCHELL RETURNS
Heat rookie guard Kasparas Jakucionis played just four minutes against the Magic on Sunday before exiting the contest late in the first quarter with right hip soreness. He totaled two points on two made free throws and dished out one assist before leaving the game and never returning.
“We talked and we decided it’s better not to make it worse,” Jakucionis, 19, said of his discussion with Heat trainers before leaving Sunday’s game. “So, I stepped out.”
When asked about the severity of Jakucionis’ injury, Spoelstra said following Sunday’s exhibition: “I’m not sure. We’ll find out. He just goes so hard that things can happen. But it’s too early to tell right now.”
Jakucionis, who the Heat selected with the 20th overall pick in this year’s draft, has still played in just one full exhibition game through the Heat’s first four preseason contests. He missed the first two exhibitions because of a sprained left wrist before totaling eight points and 10 assists on Wednesday against Spurs and then leaving Sunday’s game early.
“It is a little frustration,” Jakucionis said of his injury issues this preseason. “But these things I can’t control. So I’m just trying to control what I can control and do my thing.”
However, Heat guard Davion Mitchell played in his first preseason game of the year after missing the first three exhibitions because of calf soreness. He finished Sunday’s loss to the Magic with two points on two made free throws and two assists in 10 first-half minutes before being given the second half off.
“For me, it’s just kind of just trying to find my rhythm,” Mitchell said. “But I’ll figure that out in the next couple days.”