It was a special Friday afternoon for the Miami Heat's newest first round draft pick in Kel'el Ware as he was formally introduced as along with Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra, they all held up the jersey where he will wear the No. 7. Besides the media in attendance, Ware's past head coach in Mike Woodson of Indiana University was present and spoke after to reveal what he told his former player as soon as his named was called with the 15th overall pick.
“I told him: ‘You come in with a great attitude, you put in the work, you’re coachable, you’re in a great organization with Pat at the top and Micky [Arison] owning the team and then Spo coaching, the sky is the limit for you,’” Woodson said. “His skill set is there. I just think he’s got to learn the NBA way, he’s got to get a little bigger.”
Woodson talks about what Ware needs to do with the Heat
Ware spent two seasons playing college basketball with his last being under Woodson where he showed off the skills that impressed the Heat with his size, athleticism, among other traits. Still, Woodson would say that Ware has “got to get a little more weight on him.”
“He’s got to get a little more weight on him, I think, for the NBA and the day-to-day grind that they have,” Woodson continued. “But his skill set is there. He can make threes, but he’s got to get better and consistent with doing that. But I think the sky is the limit. The way Spo coaches and how he pushes guys to play at a high level, that’s what he needs. He couldn’t have picked a better organization than Miami.”
Last season with the Hoosiers, Ware averaged 15.9 points, 9.9 rebounds, and a whopping 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 58.6 percent from the field. Another trait about him that goes unnoticed that he has the ability to shoot from three-point range as despite a small amount of sample size, he made 42.5 percent from beyond the arch as he spoke about what Woodson taught him.
“That it's always more in the tank that I can always push past and to always give more,” Ware said Friday afternoon during his introductory press conference. “With me he always told me that he's never really liked where my my skill set stops at. It's always more that prove and improve and more that I can put on the floor and you know better perform better.”
Pat Riley opens Ware's introductory press conference Friday
With all the work he has done in college and especially with Indiana, it has resulted in the attention of Riley who said that Ware complements the Heat.
“A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step and we want to welcome Kel'el to his first step with the Miami Heat in his next journey. We feel very fortunate that we were able to get the specific player we wanted, that can complement our team, can complement Bam [Adebayo],” Riley said to open Ware's introductory press conference as they selected the big-man with the 15th overall pick.
“[Heat vice president of basketball operations and assistant general manager] Adam Simon and all of the people involved — [Heat vice president of player personnel] Eric Amsler, [Heat director of college and pro scouting] Keith Askins, [Heat senior advisor of basketball operations] Chet Kammerer — his name kept popping up all the time in front of me,” Riley said about Ware in the build up to the draft Wednesday night. “The videos kept coming, the workout was exceptional on the day that he was here and we never ever deviated from where he was on the board so whoever was there or whatever it was, we were committed so I just want to introduce you to who i hope is going to be a player one day that will have the career of a lifetime right here in Miami.”
At any rate, the Heat are looking for Ware to provide an immediate impact as they are trying to bounce back after a second straight season finishing at the eighth seed.
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