No matter how this season ends for the Miami Heat (26-30), Kel’el Ware will be an important piece of the future.

Throughout the 2024-25 campaign, Ware has shown vital glimpses of long-term potential but is still learning the game. The rookie center adds a combination of shot-blocking, floor-spacing and lob-threat viability the team hasn’t enjoyed in a long time, if ever. He’s been one of the NBA’s most productive rookies despite a delayed route to consistent playing time. Now that Ware is a fixture in the starting lineup, each game is a measuring stick for the Heat finishing strong this season and creating a sustainable identity beyond it.

To reiterate Miami’s struggles this season is to beat a long-deceased horse. The drama around Jimmy Butler, though now done, has left a void that cannot be filled by only Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo. The latter, after Wednesday’s shootaround, expressed how it will take everyone on the Heat to dig them out of their recent malaise, which currently has the team sitting five games out of the Eastern Conference’s top six and a guaranteed playoff spot.

An upcoming stretch of nine home games in 10 outings could help Miami buckle down to make a run up the standings, but players and coaches will still influence matters more than anything else. Re-enter Ware, who has had a rough few weeks after briefly inserting himself into the Rookie of the Year race thanks to impressive production.

On Jan. 27, when the Heat notched a 125-119 double-overtime win over the Orlando Magic, Ware had one of his finest games of the season, finishing with 19 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and a block while hitting all four of his 3-point attempts. Since then, his offense has regressed, and he’s made under 10 percent of his 3-pointers in the 11 games since logging the most playing time of his young career (42:30 against the Magic).

Rookie seasons are expected to have their peaks and valleys. There isn’t an ounce of shame in that. Teammates like Herro, Adebayo and Kevin Love have raved about Ware’s upside all season long. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra routinely recognizes the work the rookie puts in, whether it’s during scrimmages, in the weight room or film study.

After that aforementioned double-double against Orlando, Ware was rightly confident when explaining his reaction to how much he’s added to the Heat in such a short amount of time.

“I don’t want to sound cocky or nothing like that, but not really, no,” Ware told The Athletic when asked about being surprised about his production. “Everything I’m doing now, I’ve always been doing. I’ve been seeing old clips of me in AAU. Stuff like that? I’ve always been doing what I’m doing. So, I’m just happy I’ve been able to showcase it with this kind of talent.”

For the Heat to raise their ceiling, that confident, consistent version of Ware is whom they prefer to see on a game-to-game basis, especially because his gifts can open up so much for his teammates.

His knack for finishing around the rim helps the likes of Herro, Adebayo, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and other playmakers simply toss up the ball with little more than prayer in mind, but they can trust a locked-in Ware will finish the job. That being said, Ware is shooting only 57.7 percent from the restricted area in his last 11 games after making 72 percent of such looks during his first 30 career appearances. With him and Adebayo as Miami’s only consistent bigs in the rotation, it will be vital to routinely nail easier shots around the rim, especially given the team’s occasional knack for untimely scoring droughts. Since Feb. 1, the Heat are shooting only 58 percent on shot attempts within 5 feet of the basket, 28th in the NBA over that span.

Away from the basket, Ware’s floor-spacing, when at its best, can be efficient enough to pull bigs away from the rim and create driving lanes for teammates. But he’s shooting only 10.5 percent on 3s when defenders are at least 4 feet away, so the Heat will need him to rediscover his peak shooting touch – both in the short and long term.

The Heat have experienced voices and players who are capable of contributing valuable possessions. But Ware’s versatility and promise will be crucial for the Heat to unlock more — for this season’s stretch run and beyond.

“That’s a collective group effort. It’s not just me and Tyler,” Adebayo said Wednesday. “Yeah, we’re a big part of it, but it’s a collective effort for all of us to get good shots, get great shots. We don’t care who scores. It’s about getting a win at this point.”