Q: OK, not starting Kel’el Ware, you’ll tell me he doesn’t play well with Bam Adebayo. But Simone Fontecchio ahead of him off the bench, and then Nikola Jovic, too? That’s embarrassing. – Adam.
A: I can guarantee that Kel’el Ware does not keep score of the quality of teammate that might enter ahead in the rotation. That is not and has not been the issue. He has been a good teammate, listening to the veterans, spending time with his fellow young players. He just knows that when the minutes are there, the numbers are there. But the greater concern from the coaching perspective is whether the wins are there. While some have compared Kel’el to Hassan Whiteside, with numbers that don’t necessarily translate, the greater comparison could be to Omer Yurtseven, who put up some monster numbers for a stretch with the Heat, but with the staff believing they weren’t leading to anything tangible. The bottom line in that case was Omer did nothing elsewhere in the NBA after leaving the Heat. Not saying that is going to be the case with Kel’el. Just saying that there also is nothing wrong in attempting to push for something more complete. Kel’el Ware is a highly promising prospect, with a team that is hoping to coax the best possible version. There is nothing wrong in disagreeing with the approach. But there are many approaches. As it was, yes, only 16 minutes Saturday, but, to his credit, he made the most of them, with five points and nine rebounds, including five offensive.
Q: Is it ethical for Dwyane Wade, a minority owner and active investor of the Utah Jazz, to be commenting on Prime NBA broadcasts about any other NBA teams? – Ben, Weston.
A: Are any of these team-affiliated broadcast positions ethical? And that could even go with Udonis Haslem holding his Heat front-office title and working alongside Jazz minority partner Wade on those Prime broadcasts. But who are we to quibble if Tom Brady can have a stake with the Raiders and the NFL having no qualms with his highest-profile broadcast role? From a parochial standpoint, the Haslem element is most intriguing because he also participates in occasional Heat practices, and therefore is privy to what transpires behind the scenes.
Q: Ira, I agree with most of your grades, but disagree with Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo. When evaluating Herro, you left out his poor defense and how he is continually targeted on defense. I have also noticed a slip on Bam’s defense. In the past when he had to switch with a quick guard he was able to effectively switch and defend. Now he often gets beat with the guard going at him and beating him for lay ups. – Joel.
A: Based on salary and expectation, both should be “A” level, and neither were graded that way. But both can be elite on one side of the ball, and plenty of NBA players have built careers solely on that. I still wouldn’t sell Bam Adebayo’s defense short, or Tyler Herro’s scoring. The reality is both need to play alongside A-level talent, as Bam showed during his gold-medal Olympic runs. The problem is we haven’t seen nearly enough Herro-Norman Powell yet to even know about that dynamic. Still, Bam is coming around, including Saturday’s 30 points. The grade might even be higher next semester.