Heat go for Indiana center Kel'el Ware at No. 15 in NBA draft

MIAMI — The Miami Heat’s first personnel move of the offseason was the selection of Indiana center Kel’el Ware with the No. 15 selection at Wednesday night’s NBA draft at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

Having struggled to find complementary height alongside Bam Adebayo in the power rotation, the Heat went for a shot-blocking presence and rim-running dunk threat who has shown signs of an upgraded outside touch, as well.

As part of the rookie scale, Ware will earn $4.2 million next season.

It marked the third consecutive year the Heat exercised a first-round pick, having selected Serbian forward Nikola Jovic at No. 27 in the 2022 first round and UCLA wing Jaime Jaquez Jr. at No. 18 last season.

By rule, the Heat had to exercise a selection, with their 2025 first-round pick potentially going to the Oklahoma City Thunder as a lottery-protected selection. By NBA rule, teams cannot go successive years without exercising a first-round pick.

The Heat’s selection came amid the uncertainty with impending free-agent forwards Caleb Martin and Haywood Highsmith, with NBA free agency opening 6 p.m. Sunday.

The Heat also are awaiting player-option decisions by Kevin Love, Josh Richardson and Thomas Bryant that are due by Saturday.

For now, the Heat are moving forward with a core of Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Terry Rozier, Duncan Robinson, Jaquez and Jovic.

The Heat are coming off a 46-36 season that left them playing out of the play-in round for the second consecutive year. They then advanced before falling 4-1 in the first round to the eventual NBA champion Boston Celtics.

Going ahead of the Heat’s selection, in order, were French wing Zaccharie Risacher to the Atlanta Hawks, French forward Alexandre Sarr to the Washington Wizards, Kentucky guard Reed Sheppard to the Houston Rockets, Connecticut guard Stephon Castle to the San Antonio Spurs, G League guard Ron Holland to the Detroit Pistons, French forward Tidjane Salaun to the Charlotte Hornets, Connecticut center Donovan Clingan to the Portland Trail Blazers, Kentucky guard Rob Dillingham to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a trade, Purdue center Zach Edey to the Memphis Grizzlies, Colorado wing Cody Williams to the Utah Jazz, G League forward Matas Buzelis to the Chicago Bulls, Serbian guard Nikola Topić to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Providence guard Devin Carter to the Sacramento Kings and Pittsburgh guard Bub Carrington to the Wizards:

Still left on the board when the Heat selected were University of Miami wing Kyshawn George, Tennessee guard Dalton Knecht, Duke guard Jared McCain, Duke center Kyle Filipowski, Colorado forward Tristan da Silva, Southern Cal guard Isaiah Collier, Baylor center Yves Missi, Marquette guard Tyler Kolek, Creigton guard Baylor Scheierman, Baylor guard Ja’Kobe Walter, Dayton center DaRon Holmes, G League forward Tyler Smith, Kansas forward Johnny Furphy, California guard Jaylon Tyson and Virginia guard Ryan Dunn, among others.