{"id":154309,"date":"2025-08-11T19:07:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T23:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=154309"},"modified":"2025-08-11T19:07:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T23:07:13","slug":"heat-former-first-round-pick-kai-jones-workout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/11\/heat-former-first-round-pick-kai-jones-workout\/","title":{"rendered":"Heat Bring Former First-Round Pick In For Workout"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last season, the Miami Heat made big man <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/adebaba01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bam Adebayo<\/a>&#8216;s primary position power forward. This allowed then rookie <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wareke01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kel&#8217;el Ware<\/a>, a gifted seven-footer that they drafted 15th overall, to start at center. As Adebayo had excelled at the four-spot for Team USA in the Paris Olympics, this was possibly the plan entering the season. After all, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is a valued member of Team USA&#8217;s coaching staff; <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/24\/future-usa-olympic-head-coach-erik-spoelstras-case\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">a potential successor<\/a> to incumbent Team USA head coach Steve Kerr.<\/p>\n<p>With that being said, the Heat may soon add another seven-foot former first-round pick to their stable: unrestricted free agent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/joneska01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kai Jones<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Heat Bring Kai Jones In For Workout<\/h2>\n<p>On Monday, Miami hosted a workout for Jones, per <em>Haynes Briefs<\/em> senior NBA insider Chris Haynes.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Free agent F\/C Kai Jones is working out for the Miami Heat today, league sources tell me. The 2021 first-rounder remains a young, athletic prospect. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SrLM8s4KpT\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/SrLM8s4KpT<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChrisBHaynes\/status\/1955005443241304356?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 11, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>A springy center who&#8217;s a surprisingly adept ball-handler, Jones&#8217;s skillset and reputation are reminiscent of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mcgeeja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">JaVale McGee<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Kai Jones highlights <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/GOATLIFE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#GOATLIFE<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7ijPSWGiS3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/7ijPSWGiS3<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 B.N.P On The Rise! (@bnp_ontherise) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bnp_ontherise\/status\/1925076021029543951?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 21, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Like McGee, the early portion of Jones&#8217;s career has turned into a constant tryout. His raw athleticism and ability are enticing. Yet, his excessive confidence can lead him to playing a bit outside himself.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">I asked Kai Jones about the steps he took off the court to get himself right to play basketball again:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to thank the NBPA. They stepped in and played a major role in my off-the-court development program where i was doing therapy 2 times a week to get me ready to get back\u2026 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/s0USrAhn93\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/s0USrAhn93<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TomerAzarly\/status\/1779646350227013786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 14, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>At the same time, his off-court mentality has also left a lot to be desired.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">well if Kai Jones really is gone, then here\u2019s a big THANK YOU to him \ud83d\udef8<\/p>\n<p>one of the very few reasons the end of last season was still fun<\/p>\n<p>good luck <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/242_jones?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@242_jones<\/a> \ud83e\udee1<a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/PG1tflMJvV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/PG1tflMJvV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 All Things Mavs (@All_Things_Mavs) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/All_Things_Mavs\/status\/1955022467485012216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 11, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>To be fair to McGee, he&#8217;s never been accused of having a psychotic break, like Jones. However, they both were characterized as players who were too immature to maximize their capabilities.<\/p>\n<h3>There&#8217;s A Chance<\/h3>\n<p>The work Jones has done over the past couple of years makes him a realistic rotation player.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_154236\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-154236\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-154236\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/08\/USATSI_25861642_168415934_lowres-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Kai Jones could be the perfect backup to Deandre Ayton on the Lakers\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/08\/USATSI_25861642_168415934_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/08\/USATSI_25861642_168415934_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/08\/USATSI_25861642_168415934_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/08\/USATSI_25861642_168415934_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/08\/USATSI_25861642_168415934_lowres-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/08\/USATSI_25861642_168415934_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/08\/USATSI_25861642_168415934_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-154236\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apr 5, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Kai Jones (23) dunks the ball during the second half against the Los Angeles Clippers at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After he attended therapy to fortify his mental state, he had respectable stints with the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks. He was particularly effective during his time with the Mavericks, as their center corps was decimated by injuries. In those 12 games, he not only played 21.7 minutes per contest but started in six. That stretch saw him averaging 11.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.6 stocks (steals + blocks) per game. Notably, he was a +9.5 in the games that he started, underscoring his impact.<\/p>\n<p>If the Heat can get that version of the Bahamas native, Adebayo might as well consider himself a full-time four.<\/p>\n<div class=\"modal-image-setImageMetadata\">\n<p class=\"ng-binding\">\u00a9 Sam Navarro-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last season, the Miami Heat made big man Bam Adebayo&#8216;s primary position power forward. This allowed then rookie Kel&#8217;el Ware, a gifted seven-footer that they drafted 15th overall, to start at center. As Adebayo had excelled at the four-spot for Team USA in the Paris Olympics, this was possibly the plan entering the season. After [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":154317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1608,62,3],"tags":[1010,4278,49143,297],"class_list":["post-154309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-heat","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-bam-adebayo","tag-kai-jones","tag-kelel-ware","tag-nba-free-agency"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154309"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":154318,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154309\/revisions\/154318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}