With the Miami Heat preparing for a matchup against the Charlotte Hornets Saturday night, two players that hope to get more involved with the team as the season progresses are rookie first and second round picks Kel’el Ware and Pelle Larsson respectively. As the Heat prepare for a loaded Eastern Conference , the two first-year players could be receive extended minutes as they continue to get praise from head coach Erik Spoelstra.
Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on Kel’el Ware’s development
Starting with Ware, he was selected with the 15th overall pick in the middle of the first round where Miami has had luck in drafting stars in that range like Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, and last year in Jaime Jaquez Jr. out of UCLA. Ware though is a different player as he is seven-foot tall with elite athleticism as Spoelstra spoke about him getting bigger to match others physical intensity according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
“I know he’s gotten bigger,” Spoelstra said. “He’s put almost 10 pounds on since he’s been with us and he’s embraced how we do things. That was one of the encouraging things once we dove into his background — that he’s not afraid to work, particularly at [Indiana University].”
Ware impressed during the Heat’s summer league using his size and athleticism to his advantage and had some moments in the preseason, but will have to earn more minutes in the regular season only getting six minutes in the opener. His focus as said to the media during the preseason is to force a reason to put him on the court…