Latest news with #Ware
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Heat rumors: What Miami is missing in Kevin Durant trade proposal
The post Heat rumors: What Miami is missing in Kevin Durant trade proposal appeared first on ClutchPoints. As Kevin Durant trade discussions intensify across the league, the Miami Heat continue to emerge as one of the most viable landing spots for the Phoenix Suns star. However, despite Miami's strong positioning and persistent interest, a key piece may still be missing from their offer. According to ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel, league personnel believe Miami could be close — but not quite at the finish line — unless they are willing to part with rookie center Kel'el Ware. Advertisement Ware, 21, completed his first NBA season averaging 9.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 55.4% from the field and 31.5% from three. The 7-foot center with a 7-foot-4 wingspan is viewed as a highly valuable developmental prospect with two-way upside. Sources indicate that Phoenix sees Ware as a central piece in any potential Heat-led trade for Durant. 'To this point in negotiations, the Heat have not firmly offered Ware in a proposed package,' Siegel reported. 'If Pat Riley and his front office don't push more chips in to get Durant, a player Riley has wanted to bring to South Beach for years, they will be out, and the Suns will further their talks with the other teams interested.' Heat's reluctance to include Kel'el Ware stalls talks as Suns seek youth, flexibility in Kevin Durant trade Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Miami has reportedly put together a framework that includes Andrew Wiggins and other assets, but the absence of Ware has slowed momentum in the discussions. While Wiggins would add veteran depth and playoff experience to Phoenix's wing rotation, the Suns are believed to be focused on acquiring young, cost-controlled talent who can grow within a restructured roster. Advertisement Durant, 36, is entering the final guaranteed year of his contract and remains one of the NBA's most productive forwards, averaging 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.2 assists on 52.7% shooting from the field and 43% from three during the 2024–25 season. Despite his continued offensive output, the Suns missed the playoffs with a 36–46 record, prompting the organization to explore major changes under new head coach Jordan Ott. The Heat, who were swept in the first round of the playoffs after earning the No. 8 seed via the Play-In Tournament, are evaluating how to build around Bam Adebayo and their current young core. Tyler Herro, who just completed his sixth season, is under contract through 2026–27 and became a first-time All-Star in 2025. Miami also has other young contributors and tradeable contracts that could be packaged for a win-now move. Financial considerations are also shaping the Suns' trade goals. Sources say Phoenix is aiming to move out of the second tax apron, which may necessitate involving multiple teams in any finalized deal to absorb outgoing salary. While Miami remains firmly in the mix, their willingness to include Ware could be the turning point in the Durant sweepstakes. If the Heat hold back, Phoenix is expected to advance discussions with other interested teams, including the Timberwolves, Rockets, and Spurs. Related: Why Kenyon Martin rejected chance to join LeBron James Heat title team Related: Miami Heat's nightmare outcome for 2025 NBA Draft
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Heat continues to show belief in Kel'el Ware's potential: ‘We see signs of greatness'
The Miami Heat believes in the potential of 21-year-old center Kel'el Ware. This offseason has served as confirmation of that. The Heat essentially made Ware off-limits in trade discussions with the Phoenix Suns for Kevin Durant this month, leading the Suns to eventually deal Durant to the Houston Rockets. During the Heat's NBA Draft party on Wednesday at Kaseya Center during the first round, former Heat All-Star center and current Heat executive Alonzo Mourning vocalized the organization's belief in Ware as part of an interview on WQAM 560. 'My first words to him were, 'Welcome and let's get to work,'' Mourning recalled regarding his first conversation with Ware after the Heat took him with the 15th overall pick in last year's draft. 'And I told him, I said, 'You have the potential to be one of the greatest players in Miami Heat franchise history. You have that potential. But you got to put in the work.' And that's how we started off the conversation. 'He's done just that. You think about how he started the season and how he ended it, he's made incredible strides. So if we can continue to see that type of progress, then we're on our way as a franchise.' Ware made tremendous progress during his rookie season, earning consistent minutes and then being promoted to a starting role in January after logging double-digit minutes in just two of the Heat's first 25 games this past regular season. The 7-foot Ware started next to the 6-foot-9 Bam Adebayo to form a double-big lineup for the final three months of the season. 'That was a great experience in itself,' Ware said Wednesday of playing alongside Adebayo as part of an in-arena interview during the Heat's draft party. 'Even just on the court, knowing that I have somebody that's going to have my back and is able to guard the perimeter players a little bit and just be out there with him. He was a good person to help me while I was on the court, giving me advice.' After being moved into a full-time starting role, Ware averaged 10.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 54.4% from the field and 21 of 76 (27.6%) on threes during his final 38 regular-season appearances last season. That midseason push was enough for Ware to earn a spot on the NBA All-Rookie second team and place sixth in the NBA's Rookie of the Year voting. 'It's a step-by-step process,' Mourning said of Ware's development during his interview on WQAM. 'We know his skill level. We've seen it on a regular basis, especially when he's in practice. We see signs of greatness. Now it's about putting in the work and developing a level of consistency. It's just going to happen with time. There's only so much you can expect from a 20-year-old kid, especially with the pressures of the media and coaches in his ear all the time, traveling and different cities and the crowds and the fans. It's a whole lot to digest, it really is. But he's got a bright future, he really does.' Mourning has already been encouraged by what he has seen from Ware this offseason. Ware has been a regular at the Heat's Kaseya Center facilities for developmental work, as he prepares to be part of Miami's summer league squad for the second straight year. 'Mentally, he's in the right place because it didn't take too long where he was back in the gym after the season was over with and getting the reps in and doing what he needs to do to be prepared for next season,' Mourning said. 'So we're excited about his growth, we really are. This summer I've already seen him getting better in his workouts. He doesn't have to be here, this is his time off. But that kind of speaks volumes that he has kind of blocked out all of the distractions as a kid.' Considering last season left a bad taste in Ware's mouth, he's motivated. While the Heat was being swept out of the first round of the playoffs by the Cleveland Cavaliers last season, Ware's first NBA playoff experience was a rough one. He totaled just 19 pounds, 19 rebounds and two blocks in 73 minutes during the four-game sweep, struggling against the Cavaliers' starting frontcourt of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen while being targeted on the defensive end in pick-and-rolls. 'All it is is experience to see what it's about, see what it is,' said Ware, who is due 4.4 million in his second NBA season this upcoming season. 'And just coming back next year knowing what you got to do.' One of Ware's big goals this summer is to continue to develop his body and add weight after entering the NBA at 230 pounds. 'We noticed the physicality of the game affected him a lot, it really did,' Mourning said, looking back at Ware's rookie year. 'I could name several games where he got moved a little bit too easily at that center position. He got moved around a couple times and he just has to get a little bit more comfortable with his body from that perspective. 'But outside of that, his shot is there and that's improving and we just need him to be an ultimate defensive force in that paint, especially utilizing his length and athleticism. He can be a phenomenal defensive force. But again, his body has to get stronger. Once his body gets stronger, he'll get a little bit more confidence in some of the things that he's capable of doing.' The bottom line is the Heat believes Ware is capable of doing a lot. 'Continue what I was doing during the season,' Ware said of his approach this offseason. 'Just continue to work, continue to get better at my craft to come back better.'
NBC Sports
2 days ago
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
Report: Former Cup team owner enters agreement to buy Rick Ware Racing
T.J. Puchyr, a former owner of Spire Motorsports, has entered an agreement to purchase Rick Ware Racing, according to a report Thursday by The Associated Press. No price was reported on the deal for the NASCAR Cup team. The Associated Press reported that Purchyr will keep Ware as a partner and that Ware's son, Cody, will continue to drive the No. 51 car in the Cup Series. The report also stated that all Rick Ware Racing employees will be retained. Puchyr and Jeff Dickerson became car owners when they purchased the charter from Furniture Row Racing for $6 million after the 2018 season. They formed Spire Motorsports, which won the July Cup race with Justin Haley in July 2019. Puchyr sold his shares of Spire last year to Dan Towriss, CEO of TWG Motorsports, The Associated Press reported. The AP reported that Puchyr believes the charters are undervalued. He was involved in Spire's purchase of Live Fast Motorsports' charter for $40 million in 2023. 'I am bullish on wanting to build a three-car team. I believe in the France family and the direction of the sport, and I want the rest of the shareholders and industry to know that I believe the charters are worth $75 million or more,' he told The Associated Press. Nate Ryan, Rick Ware Racing has two charters — one for the No. 51 car with Cody Ware and a second that is being leased to RFK Racing this year for the No. 60 car of Ryan Preece. Charters can only be leased once every seven years. Rick Ware Racing has a two-year deal with RFK Racing to lease both of its charters for one year each. Legacy Motor Club is suing Rick Ware Racing over a NASCAR charter purchase deal. Legacy Motor Club, which is owned by seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, alleges that Rick Ware Racing is backing out of its agreement to sell a charter to the team. Rick Ware Racing has filed a countersuit, claiming any agreement was for the 2027 season and not the 2026 season as Legacy Motor Club contends. Dustin Long, 'If anybody deserves a pass it is Jimmie and if he wants to sit down and talk about it like men, I'd entertain the conversation,' Puchyr told The Associated Press. 'I don't think Jimmie has all the facts, doesn't understand the deal we had, and they tried to humiliate Rick publicly. We don't do business that way.' Rick Ware Racing's No. 51 car ranks last in owner points among the 36 charter teams heading into Saturday night's race at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. Puchyr is confident he can help improve the organization's performance. 'I've won at everything I've done at every level and I think we can compete with these guys,' Puchyr told The Associated Press. 'I think we can build it brick-by-brick and it's going to take people, money and time. It's not lost on me that (RWR) is the 36th-place car in the garage, we all see it. But I believe we can make this a competitive organization, even a winner.'
San Francisco Chronicle
2 days ago
- Automotive
- San Francisco Chronicle
T.J. Puchyr agrees to buy Rick Ware Racing with plans to build a 3-car NASCAR team
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — One of the founders of Spire Motorsports has entered an agreement to purchase the NASCAR team owned by Rick Ware and is jumping back into the stock car series because he believes the current charters are grossly undervalued. T.J. Puchyr, who in 2018 alongside Jeff Dickerson launched the Spire team to take over the charter that Furniture Row Racing could not unload, told The Associated Press on Thursday he and Rick Ware Racing have a deal for him to take over Ware's organization next season. When Puchyr and Dickerson bought the Furniture Row charter, the market for NASCAR's version of franchise models was essentially dead. Their agency had been hired by Furniture Row owner Barney Visser to sell the charter and when they couldn't find a buyer, the two decided to purchase it themselves for $6 million and launch their own team. That decision jump-started the charter market and the most recent charters sold — when Stewart-Haas Racing went out of business at the end of last season — went for approximately $30 million. Puchyr and Dickerson are largely credited with pumping life and value into an otherwise dormant charter system. Puchyr last year sold his shares of Spire to Dan Towriss, the CEO of TWG Motorsports and head of the new Cadillac F1 team. Puchyr has spent 2025 consulting with various teams, including RWR and Legacy Motor Club. He's watched the market closely and has attended several of the recent court hearings involving NASCAR against 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, who have filed an antitrust lawsuit over the charter agreement those two teams refused to sign last September. There are only 36 Cup Series charters, which guarantee a team entry into every NASCAR race and a steady revenue stream. Puchyr believes they are greatly undervalued and in one of his final deals with Spire, he helped acquire a charter from Live Fast Motorsports for $40 million. 'I am bullish on wanting to build a three-car team. I believe in the France family and the direction of the sport and I want the rest of the shareholders and industry to know that I believe the charters are worth $75 million or more,' he told AP. What about Ware's second charter? In his deal with Ware, Puchyr will keep Ware on board as a partner, also keep Ware's son, Cody, in the No. 51 Ford, and retain all of the current RWR employees. Ware's current second charter is leased to RFK Racing, but Legacy Motor Club made a legal claim that it had entered an agreement to buy that charter next season. A judge did not agree with Legacy, and said Ware has a lease deal with RFK for 2026 on a second charter. Puchyr believes none of the parties can perform to the Legacy-RWR contract — which he said was written by Legacy — and there is no charter available from Ware for Legacy for either lease or purchase in 2026. Ware has filed a countersuit against Legacy. Legacy, a two-car Cup team, is currently owned by seven-time NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson. He has recently taken on partnership from private equity firm Knighthead Capital Management, which alongside Johnson is exploring expansion into several other motorsports series. 'If anybody deserves a pass it is Jimmie and if he wants to sit down and talk about it like men, I'd entertain the conversation,' said Puchyr, who was offended that Legacy sued Ware. 'I don't think Jimmie has all the facts, doesn't understand the deal we had, and they tried to humiliate Rick publicly. We don't do business that way.' Now, Puchyr and Ware are confident the second charter currently leased to RFK will be returned to their team in 2027, allowing Puchyr to expand the organization. He wants to buy a third charter that makes the organization a three-car Cup team by 2027. Can Puchyr build a winning team? Ware has done the second-most charter transactions in the industry only to Spire and at one point held four. Now he's trying to rebuild his organization and win races with his son as the driver, something Puchyr wants to help him achieve. 'I've won at everything I've done at every level and I think we can compete with these guys,' Puchyr said. 'I think we can build it brick-by-brick and it's going to take people, money and time. It's not lost on me that (RWR) is the 36th-place car in the garage, we all see it. But I believe we can make this a competitive organization, even a winner. 'And I believe we can get these charters valued at their true worth.' Ware fields winning organizations in other motorsports series, including NHRA with Clay Millican. A Ware-owned team won the 2024 American Flat Track championship, the 2022 FIM World Supercross Championship and the 2019-2020 Asian Le Mans Series prototype title. Puchyr did not reveal to the AP how much he's paying for Ware's organization, which technically only holds the charter for Cody Ware's car this season and runs Corey Lajoie in a second 'open' car in select races. Once it gets its leased charter back from RFK in 2027, the team will have at least two cars with the focus on purchasing a third. Purchasing charters is not easy at this time as multiple teams have interest but lack the monetary funds to buy them at the ever-increasing rates. Among them is Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has not been able to get his hands on charters to take his Xfinity Series team to NASCAR's top Cup Series level.
2 days ago
- Automotive
T.J. Puchyr agrees to buy Rick Ware Racing with plans to build a 3-car NASCAR team
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- One of the founders of Spire Motorsports has entered an agreement to purchase the NASCAR team owned by Rick Ware and is jumping back into the stock car series because he believes the current charters are grossly undervalued. T.J. Puchyr, who in 2018 alongside Jeff Dickerson launched the Spire team to take over the charter that Furniture Row Racing could not unload, told The Associated Press on Thursday he and Rick Ware Racing have a deal for him to take over Ware's organization next season. When Puchyr and Dickerson bought the Furniture Row charter, the market for NASCAR's version of franchise models was essentially dead. Their agency had been hired by Furniture Row owner Barney Visser to sell the charter and when they couldn't find a buyer, the two decided to purchase it themselves for $6 million and launch their own team. That decision jump-started the charter market and the most recent charters sold — when Stewart-Haas Racing went out of business at the end of last season — went for approximately $30 million. Puchyr and Dickerson are largely credited with pumping life and value into an otherwise dormant charter system. Puchyr last year sold his shares of Spire to Dan Towriss, the CEO of TWG Motorsports and header of the new Cadillac F1 team. Puchyr has spent 2025 consulting with various teams, including RWR and Legacy Motor Club. He's watched the market closely and has attended several of the recent court hearings involving NASCAR against 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, who have filed an antitrust lawsuit over the charter agreement those two teams refused to sign last September. There are only 36 Cup Series charters, which guarantee a team entry into every NASCAR race and a steady revenue stream. Puchyr believes they are greatly undervalued and in one of his final deals with Spire, he helped acquire a charter from Live Fast Motorsports for $40 million. 'I am bullish on wanting to build a three-car team. I believe in the France family and the direction of the sport and I want the rest of the shareholders and industry to know that I believe the charters are worth $75 million or more,' he told AP. In his deal with Ware, Puchyr will keep Ware on board as a partner, also keep Ware's son, Cody, in the No. 51 Ford, and retain all of the current RWR employees. Ware's current second charter is leased to RFK Racing, but Legacy Motor Club made a legal claim that it had entered an agreement to buy that charter next season. A judge did not agree with Legacy, and said Ware has a lease deal with RFK for 2026 on a second charter. Puchyr believes none of the parties can perform to Legacy-RWR contract — which he said was written by Legacy — and there is no charter available from Ware for Legacy for either lease or purchase in 2026. Ware has filed a countersuit against Legacy. Legacy, a two-car Cup team, is currently owned by seven-time NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson. He has recently taken on partnership from private equity firm Knighthead Capital Management, which alongside Johnson is exploring expansion into several other motorsports series. 'If anybody deserves a pass it is Jimmie and if he wants to sit down and talk about it like men, I'd entertain the conversation,' said Puchyr, who was offended that Legacy sued Ware. 'I don't think Jimmie has all the facts, doesn't understand the deal we had, and they tried to humiliate Rick publicly. We don't do business that way.' Now, Puchyr and Ware are confident the second charter currently leased to RFK will be returned to their team in 2027, allowing Puchyr to expand the organization. He wants to buy a third charter that makes the organization a three-car Cup team by 2027. Ware has done the second-most charter transactions in the industry only to Spire and at one point held four. Now he's trying to rebuild his organization and win races with his son as the driver, something Puchyr wants to help him achieve. 'I've won at everything I've done at every level and I think we can compete with these guys,' Puchyr said. 'I think we can build it brick-by-brick and it's going to take people, money and time. It's not lost on me that (RWR) is the 36th-place car in the garage, we all see it. But I believe we can make this a competitive organization, even a winner. 'And I believe we can get these charters valued at their true worth.' Ware fields winning organizations in other motorsports series, including NHRA with Clay Millican, who won the 2024 American Flat Track championship, the 2022 FIM World Supercross Championship and the 2019-2020 Asian Le Mans Series prototype title. Puchyr did not reveal to the AP how much he's paying for Ware's organization, which technically only holds the charter for Cody Ware's car this season and runs Corey Lajoie in a second 'open' car in select races. Once it gets its leased charter back from RFK in 2027, the team will have at least two cars with the focus on purchasing a third. Purchasing charters is not easy at this time as multiple teams have interest but lack the monetary funds to buy them at the ever-increasing rates. Among this is Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has not been able to get his hands on charters to take his Xfinity Series team to NASCAR's top Cup Series level.
