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Kel'el Ware

Milwaukee Bucks · #7 · Starter
C7'0"250 lbage 222 yrs expIndianaNorth Little Rock, AR
3rd best of 15 on MILworth +1.9 wins to the rotation
OFF79DEF77
Elite rebounder & shooter
MIL
Milwaukee Bucks
Eastern · Central · proj. 30-52 (▼10.5)
→

A skyscraping young center who broke out as a monster on the glass — 9 boards a night with a 98th-percentile rebounding mark — and a genuine rim protector (93rd percentile, 1.1 blocks). He finishes everything inside (53% from the field, 61.6% true shooting) and even flashed range, hitting 39.5% of his threes on low volume. The playmaking is nonexistent, but at 22 on a bargain deal he's one of Miami's best young assets.

11.1
PPG
9
RPG
0.7
APG
0.8
SPG
1.1
BPG
GP 77MPG 22.1FG% 533P% 39.5FT% 74TS% 61.6USG% 18PER 20BPM +2.1VORP 1.8EPM +1.0
2025-26 regular season · bars are percentile at his position

NBA player ratings

0–99 · 2025-26 form
Rebounding93
Shooting88
Rim protection82
Scoring76
Inside finishing75
Perimeter defense74
Playmaking53

Skill ratings are 2025-26 per-game and advanced stats (Basketball-Reference) ranked 0–99 within position (guards vs guards, bigs vs bigs). Overall is anchored to EPM impact on a non-linear curve, nudged by these skills; Offense and Defense come from box plus-minus. A player who missed the latest season is shown from his most recent one.

Career

2024-25 to 2025-26 · 2 seasons
10.3
PPG
8.3
RPG
0.8
APG
141
GAMES
Points 1,446Win Shares 10.3Starts 70Best season 2025-26 · 11.1 ppg

Regular season, 2003-04 onward (Basketball-Reference). Averages are weighted by games played; honours count awards won, not finishes. “Current players” means the 802 who played in the last three seasons.

Trajectory

2024-25 → 2025-26 · age 20 → 21
▲Rising

Kel'el, at 21, is on a clear upward trajectory — 2.5 → 4.5 wins of value over the window.

Age curve▲ Ahead of curve
Developing faster than a typical player his age.
2026-27 forecast▲ 5.2 wins (+0.7)
Age should add a little at 22. Range 4.4–6.0 wins.
Production (BPM)-0.1 → +2.1+2.226-27 forecast +1.9
His per-possession game has clearly sharpened.
2024-25: -0.1 · 64 games2025-26: +2.1 · 77 games2026-27: +1.9 (forecast)24-2525-2626-27
Value to team (wins)2.5 → 4.5+2.026-27 forecast 5.2
He's worth more wins to a team than he was.
2024-25: 2.5 · 64 games2025-26: 4.5 · 77 games2026-27: 5.2 (forecast)24-2525-2626-27
Contract value2026-27: worth $18.4M vs $4.7M salary+$13.7M
His play is projected to be worth more than he is paid.
$4.7M salary2024-25: $5.4M · 64 games2025-26: $12.8M · 77 games2026-27: $18.4M (forecast)24-2525-2626-27
Current deal: $4,654,920 cap hit · through '28. On the contract row the flat dashed line is this salary, so the gap to the 2026-27 forecast is the surplus.

Seasons from Basketball-Reference (2024-25 → 2025-26). Production is box plus-minus, a per-possession measure. Value is VORP-based wins, so it also counts games played. Contract value is what each season’s play would fetch on the open market. The dotted 2026-27 point is a forecast: his established level, a year older, assuming a normal season.

Contract

2026-27
$4,654,920Team option
3% of the club’s payroll · 12th of 15 priced deals
Runs through2 seasons
Est. market value$18,380,000 /yr
Surplus+$13,725,080
BARGAINworth more than he is paid

Market value is an estimate, not a reported figure: what his play is forecast to fetch on the open market in 2026-27 — his current rating, a year older. Cap thresholds are projected for 2026-27 until the league sets them.

2026-27 off-season

1 move

OFFICIAL means the league’s own records carry the move; AGREED means a trusted insider reported it and the league has not processed it yet. Terms and attribution come from the wire, which is the only source that carries them.

Plays like

same position

Nearest skill profiles across the seven rating axes — who he plays like, not who is as good. The rating beside each name answers that second question.