Heat’s Ware edged out for NBA’s first-team All-Rookie honors, but makes second team
Heat center Kel’el Ware was edged out for a spot on the NBA’s All-Rookie first team but finished with the most votes among players named to the second team, the league announced Tuesday.
Ware becomes the 15th Heat player to be named to an NBA All Rookie team.
In a vote of 100 media members, Ware received 44 first-team votes and 50 second-team points. His 138 points placed him sixth among all rookies, behind Washington’s Alex Sarr, who finished fifth with 150 points.
The All-NBA rookie first team included, in order by vote totals, San Antonio’s Stephon Castle, Atlanta’s Zaccharie Risacher, Memphis’ Jaylen Wells and Zach Edey and Sarr.
Joining Ware on the second team: Chicago’s Matas Buzelis, New Orleans’ Yves Missi, Portland’s Donovan Clingan and Washington’s Bub Carrington. Buzelis was seventh in voting with 97 points, well behind Ware.
Players are named to the first and second teams regardless of positions.
Ware, 21, fell short of becoming the eighth Heat rookie in franchise history to be selected for the All-Rookie first team. The seven to do it in a Heat uniform were Sherman Douglas (in 1989-90 season), Steve Smith (1991-92), Caron Butler (2002-03), Dwyane Wade (2003-04), Michael Beasley (2008-09), Kendrick Nunn (2019-20) and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (last season).
Ware became the second Heat player this decade to make the All-Rookie second team, joining Tyler Herro. Besides Ware and Herro, six other Heat players have been named second-team All Rookie: Kevin Edwards (1988-89), Glen Rice (1989-90), Willie Burton (1990-91), Udonis Haslem (2003-24), Mario Chalmers (2008-09) and Justice Winslow (2015-16).
In 64 games (including 36 starts), Ware averaged 9.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks and shot 55.4% from the field and 31.5% on threes (35 for 111). Among rookies, Ware ranked fifth in rebounds, eighth in blocks and 12th in points per game, per basketballreference.com.
Ware, who was the 15th overall pick last June, was named NBA Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month in January, after scoring 20-plus points in three consecutive games during a stretch that intersected with him becoming a starter.
Among all NBA players (not just rookies), Ware finished 19th in blocks per 36 minutes (1.8) and finished 17th in rebounds per 36 minutes at 12.0, sandwiched between a three-time MVP (Nikola Jokic) and a four-time Defensive Player of the Year (Rudy Gobert). Heat forward Bam Adebayo was 32nd in that rebounds-per-36 category at 10.1.
Miami became a better offensive team, for a time, after Ware joined the starting lineup in mid-January.
During the regular season, Miami shot 49.1% when Adebayo and Ware were on the floor together, compared with 46.5 overall.
The Heat shot 40.9% on threes when they played together, compared with 37.3 overall. Miami averaged more points per 100 possessions with its super sized frontcourt (113.1 to 112.4 otherwise).
When Adebayo and Ware played together, the Heat outscored teams by 44 points and five-man lineups with that duo had the fourth-best shooting percentage and the best three-point shooting percentage among any two-man Heat combo that played at least 40 games.
But even though Ware provided resistance at the rim, he was slow at times defending pick and rolls and the Ware/Adebayo frontcourt was a disappointment against Cleveland in the playoffs.
Ware struggled in the postseason, finishing with 19 points and 19 rebounds in 73 minutes. He played no more than 20 minutes in any game and the Heat was outscored by 43 points during his time on the floor in postseason, as Cleveland demolished the Heat by a combined 122 points in the four-game sweep.
Among Ware’s standout games of the season: a 25-point game in a win over the Spurs, a six-block game in an overtime loss to the Knicks and 19 points and 17 rebounds in a win against Philadelphia.
Ware is due $4.4 million next season in the second year of his rookie contract. The Heat has an Oct. 31 deadline to exercise a $4.7 million team option in Ware’s contract for the 2026-27 season.
This story was originally published May 20, 2025 at 2:21 PM.
