Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. selected for Rising Stars showcase event, but not Kel’el Ware
The Miami Heat will be represented in this year’s Rising Stars event, but it won’t be by talented rookie Kel’el Ware.
Instead, second-year forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. will represent the Heat in this year’s Rising Stars showcase, which will help kick off All-Star Weekend in San Francisco next month. No other Heat players were among the 28 invited to participate in the event.
Rising Stars, which is the annual showcase of top first- and second-year NBA players and NBA G League standouts, will be played at 9 p.m. on Feb. 14 at Chase Center during All-Star Weekend. The event will feature four teams and three games, and will be aired live on TNT.
Jaquez, who also took part in Rising Stars as a rookie last year, was named to the NBA’s All-Rookie First Team for his impressive work last season.
But Jaquez’s production has dipped this season, averaging fewer points (9.5 per game) while shooting a worse percentage from the field (44.2 percent) and three-point range (31.7 percent) than last season. He’s also averaging 4.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game in 40 appearances (10 starts) in his second NBA season.
However, Jaquez, 23, was still picked to represent the Heat in the Rising Stars event over Ware.
Ware, who has gone from out of the rotation to a fixture in the Heat’s starting lineup over the last month, is among the betting favorites to win the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award this season.
After logging double-digit minutes in just two of the Heat’s first 25 games this season, Ware has now played double-digit minutes in 20 consecutive games and has started four straight games.
Ware, who the Heat selected with the 15th overall in the 2024 Draft, has averaged 11.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 21.7 minutes per game while shooting 59 percent from the field and 44.7 percent on 2.4 three-point attempts per game during his string of 20 consecutive games with double-digit minutes.
But that still wasn’t enough for Ware to earn a Rising Stars invitation. However, it’s still possible Ware could take part in the event as a potential injury replacement.
The Rising Stars player pool consists of 10 NBA rookies, 11 NBA sophomores and seven NBA G League players.
The rookies selected ahead of Ware for this year’s Rising Stars event are Washington Wizards guard Bub Carrington, San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle, Orlando Magic forward Tristan da Silva, Memphis Grizzlies center Zach Edey, Los Angeles Lakers guard Dalton Knecht, Philadelphia 76ers guard Jared McCain, New Orleans Pelicans center Yves Missi, Atlanta Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher, Wizards center Alex Sarr and Grizzlies guard Jaylen Wells.
The 21 NBA players, selected by NBA assistant coaches, will be drafted onto three seven-player teams. The seven NBA G League players, selected by the league office, will make up the fourth team.
In selecting the NBA players for Rising Stars, each NBA team submitted one ballot per coaching staff. Each coaching staff selected four frontcourt players, four guards and two additional players at either position, in order of preference, for the rookie ballot and the sophomore ballot. Coaches were not permitted to vote for any player on their team.
The NBA participants for Rising Stars were determined by the total points each player received from the ballots. Points were awarded based on where a player was ranked on each ballot. The player pool includes one more sophomore than rookie based on total points received.
It’s unclear when Rising Stars ballots were due to the NBA, an element that could have hurt Ware’s chances of making the event because he just recently entered the Heat’s rotation and starting lineup.
The Rising Stars Draft will take place on Feb. 4 at 4 p.m. on the NBA App andE the league’s social platforms. The three teams of NBA players will be drafted by honorary head coaches, who will be announced at a later date.
In total, 12 different Heat players in franchise history have been selected for the Rising Stars event. That list includes Khalid Reeves (1995), Kurt Thomas (1996), Caron Butler (2003), Dwyane Wade (2004 and 2005), Udonis Haslem (2004 and 2005), Michael Beasley (2009 and 2010), Norris Cole (2012), Kendrick Nunn (2020), Tyler Herro (2020 and 2021), Precious Achiuwa (2021), Alondes Williams (2024) and Jaquez (2024 and 2025).
Wade, Haslem, Beasley, Herro and Jaquez are the only five Heat players who have been multi-time selections for the Rising Stars showcase.
Under the Rising Stars event’s new format, Jaquez will even have a chance to qualify for this year’s NBA All-Star Game as a Rising Stars participant.
For the first time, the winning Rising Stars team will clinch a spot in the NBA All-Star Game’s mini-tournament on Feb. 16 and compete against NBA All-Stars. TNT analyst and WNBA legend Candace Parker will serve as the honorary general manager of the Rising Stars champion, which will be known as Team Candace.
In the Rising Stars mini-tournament, Team A will face Team B in the first semifinal (Game 1), and Team C will play Team D in the second semifinal (Game 2). The winner of Game 1 will meet the winner of Game 2 in the championship (Game 3).
For each semifinal game, the winner will be the first team to reach or surpass 40 points. For the championship game, the winner will be the first team to reach or surpass 25 points.
The four teams participating (three teams made up of NBA All-Stars and the winning team from the championship game of the Rising Stars) in the NBA All-Star Game tournament will compete for a prize pool of $1.8 million. Each player on the championship-winning team will receive $125,000, each player on the second-place team will receive $50,000 and each player on the third- and fourth-place teams will receive $25,000.
The next question for the Heat is will a player from its roster be selected as an NBA All-Star this season?
While no Heat players were picked as All-Star starters this year, Herro is receiving strong consideration for an Eastern Conference All-Star reserve spot as a guard.
Head coaches will select the seven reserves from each conference, which will be announced on Thursday on TNT. The seven reserve spots usually include three frontcourt players, two guards and two additional players regardless of position.
As of Tuesday, the Heat did not yet have a participant in the All-Star Saturday Night events. But if Herro is selected as an All-Star reserve, his chances of taking part in this year’s Three-Point Contest are expected to rise.
This story was originally published January 28, 2025 at 3:44 PM.
