Kel'el Ware Scouting Report

Seven-footers with the mobility and athleticism to guard multiple positions are one of today's hot commodities. How ready is Ware's game for the NBA? What will his role look like? Find out below.

Photo via Hoosier Illustrated

Before his freshman year, Ware had a disappointing outing at the FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship. This was followed up with a year of ups and downs in a limited role at Oregon. Ware showed that he wanted to bet on himself and improve by committing to Coach Woodson and the Indiana Hoosiers.

The Big Ten is known as a big man’s league, and one of the knocks Ware faced during his freshman campaign was the lack of physicality and an inconsistent motor, making a return to school a better choice in terms of his NBA future.

However, a lot has changed since he became a Hoosier, as he completed his sophomore campaign with Big Ten All-Defensive Team and Second-team All-Big Ten selections. His impact on both ends has enough areas that are translatable to the role he’ll fulfill in the NBA, which is the primary focus of this scouting report.

Physical Profile

At seven feet, Ware stands out with his mobility. He’s light-footed and floats around the court. It all looks natural as his size and length allow him to serve as a defensive presence in the interior. While he’s at 242 pounds, it’s noteworthy that he gained over 30 pounds in his two years of college.

Continuing to fill out his frame is something we’ll see in the upcoming years, as he still needs to get stronger to fulfill his defensive potential. His verticality allows him to rise above all his opponents, making him an efficient rebounder and shot-blocker.

Ware does have stiff hips, causing him to struggle in space against quicker opponents. While his length makes up for most of the deficiencies, this is an area an NBA decision-maker has to keep in mind.

Defense

Having a reliable pick-and-roll defender at center is a must-have to play winning basketball at the NBA level. That’s an area where Ware can impact teams with his mobility and verticality. At 1.9 blocks per game, Ware shows that he can block shots at the rim. However, that’s not what his primary value should be if he wants to be a difference-maker for a team.

A positive in his profile is that Ware is willing to go over screens more often than not, while the NBA shows a trend of more drop coverage of big men. Another positive is that he keeps his feet moving while reading what the ball handler is going to do, with the first play being a good example.

An important area of development is that he’s too reactionary at times when he’s getting attacked by the ball handler, with the last two plays being examples. In the first of two, Ware bites on the hesitation move while the driving lane to the rim is wide open. His instincts should have led to Ware positioning himself at 0 to 90 degrees from the ball handler, rather than the 180 degrees he was located at, which led to the wide-open lay-up finish. Improvement in recognizing angles is a must-have for Ware.

In the last play below, Ware shows that his defensive footwork led to him giving up the driving lane to the ball handler. The possession starts badly due to the amount of space between the screener and himself. He still decided to go over, leading to him placing his pivot foot too far out after the ball handler switched onto him by utilizing the ball screen. Despite this, Ware shows his quickness and puts himself in a position to block the shot from behind, but it doesn’t take away the fact that his decision-making is a work in progress.

Against cutters, Ware looks more comfortable. The primary values he’ll bring are his ability to serve as a weakside defender and his quick second jump. However, on a better-spaced NBA floor, Ware could get himself into trouble as he plays further away from the rim.

In the first play below, we see Ware position himself to take on the switch the ball handler is chasing. This led to the lane in the middle being wide open, making it easy for the cutter to lose his assignment. Tagging a roller is a good habit for big men. However, a hard tag such as this one will open the floor up for players around him. The play isn’t entirely on Ware, but it does show what he’ll face on an NBA floor.

In the second play, Ware does well in giving the scorer no room to finish at the rim. But due to a lack of rotations by his teammate near the elbow, he’s beaten by his assignment who received the drop-off pass. The positive in this play is Ware’s quick second jump, which almost led to him deterring the shot.

In the last play below we see Ware mitigating a risk that’s seen often in young big men prospects: overhelping on defense. He served as the weakside rim protector on this play, and he stayed attached to his assignment until it was clear the lane was left wide open, leading to the timely rotation by Ware.

When guarding on the perimeter, Ware will likely be asked to guard against spot-up shooters after several switches have occurred. In his case, his elite 7-foot-7 wingspan gives Ware enough of a buffer to not get too close to the perimeter while still altering shots.

In the last two plays below, we see examples of the above-mentioned. What stood out is that Ware recognized the rotation and already relocated to the corner two passes before the ball got there. Despite him being a tad too late, the process is what mattered and it’ll likely leave an NBA decision-maker impressed.

In the last play, Ware doesn’t get confused by the screening action and sticks to his assignment who launches an NBA-ranged three, with Ware contesting the shot without much of an effort; a value-riser in his profile. However, one of the concerns that came back consistently is that Ware wasn’t playing with the same confidence while dropping in the interior; in the first play, the shot contest wasn’t even there, which is something an NBA decision-maker must keep an eye on.

At 2.0 personal fouls in 32 minutes per game, there are no foul issues that stop him from playing long minutes. However, when looking closely at the committed fouls, there was a consistent pattern of him fouling too often when defending against closeouts and catch-and-drives.

This isn’t related to the position of his assignment, Ware struggled against guards, wings, and forwards, with his positioning being the reason why got beat off the dribble more often than not.

In each of the three plays below, Ware places his pivot foot too far out while the need for it isn’t there. He’s able to slide his feet properly, but the defensive footwork in general stopped Ware from being a more impactful defender in his sophomore year at Indiana.

He’s also too reactionary at times, and instead of making his opponents beat him off the dribble, he gives them the open driving lane instead. In the last play below, we see Ware slightly drop and set his feet, but after it’s clear the ball handler is going to drive via the left, he steps out a bit, making it hard for him to recover the driving lane that occurred in the middle of the floor.

In terms of untapped potential as a defender, Ware offers a team enough physical tools to work with. Isolation basketball is one of the more reliable feasibility tests to determine long-term growth. In Ware’s case, it’s clear that his decision-making and slow reactionary speed make it hard for him to tap in on all his potential in the long run.

The first play below shows Ware getting beat by his opponent who normally would stand very little chance against an athlete of Ware’s caliber. However, the defensive footwork is what got in his way on this play, as he is too reactionary on what the ball handler will do.

As mentioned earlier, at 2.0 personal fouls Ware can stay on the floor for long stretches. But that number loses some value when considering that he’s not embracing physicality as much as he should. In the last two plays below, Ware gets beat in isolation due to him not making it hard enough for opponents to score near the rim; an area where Ware has impacted the Hoosiers defense for a large chunk of his sophomore season.

Offense

Despite most of his looks being near the rim, Ware got up to almost 16 points per game this season. Most of it is due to his great touch at the rim, which led to him being a 74.1% rim finisher, without even taking into account that he averages more than two dunks per game.

At the NBA level, his production will mostly rely on him serving as a play-finisher by leveraging his verticality and screening actions in the interior. This is a must-have for today’s NBA center with most NBA teams not willing to sacrifice much of their field goal attempts for dunker-spot finishers—mostly to protect their offensive rating by ensuring they take enough threes.

Another area for Ware to impact his team on offense is his value as a rebounder. At 9.9 rebounds per game, Ware ensured that he got more than two offensive boards per game, mostly due to his excellent positioning while chasing second-chance opportunities.

Ware doesn’t have the frame to bang with big bodies in the interior, but his quickness and mobility make up for most of it, as he’s looking to out-position his opponent, rather than outpowering them and pick up unnecessary fouls. The first play below is one of the examples.

The faster-paced NBA game does not require much action on the offensive glass, due to teams preferring to get back on defense more often than not. However, in situational plays, such as in late-game situations, Ware’s activity on the glass will be a value-riser in terms of him generating second-chance opportunities for himself and his teammates.

One of the areas of development in Ware’s profile is his shooting. Despite him shooting 42.5% on 40 attempts per game this season, an NBA decision-maker should look past the good numbers to see what’s still in need of development.

Due to his role, Ware is mostly used in the interior instead of utilizing his mobility on the perimeter. On an NBA floor, he’ll likely be asked to shoot threes on a higher volume than the 1.3 attempts per game he had this season.

To protect a team’s offensive rating, Ware’s inconsistent jumper will likely lead to him having to play G League developmental minutes before being a reliable piece in his team’s rotation. A positive in his shooting potential is that as a pick-and-pop threat, Ware is good at making himself the forgotten man due to timely screening actions.

The most important area of development in his jumper is Ware not setting his feet properly. He doesn’t bend his knees far enough to power up in a consistent and quick pattern before his release. The shooting form itself looks good as he has a high release point, but the preparation to get to his jumper is what Ware has to improve at the next level.

With the NBA’s trend of using big men as playmaking hubs, Ware has to improve in terms of serving as one via handoffs. One of the positives is that he’s a good enough manipulator to sell the defense that he’ll drop the pass off at all times, with the first play being an example. An area of development is his decision-making out of those sequences, with him having to attack the rim in the first play, and not bail the defense out with the jumper.

Ware also has twice as many turnovers compared to his freshman year. When evaluating the cause, a large chunk of those were avoidable, with lazy dump-offs instead of real handoffs that help ball handlers being one, with the second and third play below being two examples.

Ware’s passing is one of the unique selling points in his profile. Despite the negative assist (63) to turnover (74) ratio, his ability to serve as a ball-mover and playmaker will be something for him to hang his hat on.

In terms of his long-term potential, two positives in his passing make it feasible that he’ll improve in the upcoming years: composure and not being afraid of high-risk, high-reward passes.

In the last two plays below, we see Ware keeping his cool and overview at all times, leading to him showing flashes to serve as a short-roll playmaker in the third play with the ease of him finding the cutting big man. In the last play below, he gets the hard double near the corner. Ware keeps his composure and finds the teammate at the elbow, and it’s not just a bailout pass, but Ware recognizes the lack of rotations and thus the driving lane opening up.

In the first two plays, we see Ware utilizing his size very well to see over the defense. What stood out is that when he keeps the ball high upon catching the ball, it mostly leads to a pass. His not worrying about a potential turnover in both plays is what stands out as well, because it shows that Ware is trusting his reads more than fearing for a mistake. In the second play, the full-court skip pass in transition shows his passing touch which is something an NBA team can continue to develop.

NBA Draft Projection

An NBA franchise is buying potential in Ware’s profile. His physical tools are absolute value-risers with his mobility and verticality being the two positives. However, in terms of the intangibles, he has to improve his decision-making and defensive footwork via more reps at the next level.

With Ware not turning 21 until after Eastern in the next NBA season, he’s still young for a sophomore. An NBA team that values age will see this as a positive. Ware’s fearlessness combined with his betting on himself by joining a major program in a big-men-heavy Big Ten shows the confidence he has in himself and his development.

His help defense and potential to be a versatile pick-and-roll defender combined with Ware’s passing and developing jumper could make him a solid starter for years to come. Ware has to improve these areas as a natural result of his young age, which makes it likely he’ll play G League minutes in the first two years of his NBA career.

Based on the pros and cons mentioned in this scouting report, I project Ware to be a lock for the top 20 of the 2024 NBA Draft, with him being able to enter the lottery based on how he’ll perform during team workouts and at the NBA Draft Combine.