Kel'el Ware

Milwaukee Bucks · C

Age 22 · 7'0" · 230 lb

Pick #15, 2024 Draft · Rookie 2025 · 152 games · 4 playoff games

DPM · #347 of 521

-1.4
Offense -0.7 Defense -0.7 Market +0.2 · playoffs 0.0 Last played Nov 10, 2026

Historical comps

Comps & futures

The ten most similar player-seasons since 1996-97 at the same age, and what happened to them next.

CompAgeDPM thenNext 5 seasonsMatch
Alexis Ajinca 2010-1122-1.4 under 10 games, under 10 games, -0.3, +0.5, -0.8 85
Austin Daye 2010-1122-1.1 -2.8, -1.6, -2.0, -2.6, under 10 games 85
Markieff Morris 2011-1222-1.4 -2.1, -0.3, +0.2, -0.1, +0.4 84
Emeka Okafor 2004-0522-1.6 -1.0, -0.1, -0.7, +0.4, -0.5 84
Omari Spellman 2019-2022-1.5 under 10 games, under 10 games, under 10 games, under 10 games, under 10 games 84
Channing Frye 2005-0622-1.1 -2.6, -0.6, -2.7, +1.0, +1.3 83
Jonas Valanciunas 2013-1421-1.6 -2.0, -0.5, -0.8, -0.1, -0.4 83
Dontonio Wingfield 1996-9722-1.6 under 10 games, under 10 games, under 10 games, under 10 games, under 10 games 83
Lauri Markkanen 2018-1921-0.8 -0.8, -0.6, +0.4, +2.6, +2.1 83
Trey Lyles 2017-1822-0.7 -1.3, -1.0, -2.1, -0.9, +0.1 83

The 25 player-seasons since 1996-97 closest to Kel'el's 2026-27 at the same age: DPM and its offense/defense split, the two seasons before, box-score profile, height, experience and age. Each comp counts once, at his closest season, weighted by the match. Hover or focus a comp to trace his next five seasons. A website presentation, not a DARKO model output.

Around the league

Top 10 comps today

Current players closest to Kel'el Ware's current profile, by DARKO ratings, age and projected box-score style.

  1. 1 Kel'el Ware MIL Self
    -1.4DPMDPM Offense -0.7 Defense -0.7 Per 100 possessions:24.3points17.1rebounds2.4assistsP/R/A
    100.0
  2. -1.7DPMDPM Offense -1.3 Defense -0.4 Per 100 possessions:23.2points12.5rebounds3.9assistsP/R/A
    86.4
  3. -1.1DPMDPM Offense -0.3 Defense -0.8 Per 100 possessions:23.9points11.7rebounds3.1assistsP/R/A
    86.2
  4. -1.2DPMDPM Offense -0.8 Defense -0.4 Per 100 possessions:20.2points12.2rebounds2.6assistsP/R/A
    86.1
  5. -1.9DPMDPM Offense -1.0 Defense -0.9 Per 100 possessions:25.0points14.3rebounds3.1assistsP/R/A
    85.4
  6. -1.1DPMDPM Offense -0.7 Defense -0.3 Per 100 possessions:20.0points12.8rebounds2.4assistsP/R/A
    82.8
  7. -1.4DPMDPM Offense -1.3 Defense -0.1 Per 100 possessions:17.7points11.2rebounds2.2assistsP/R/A
    82.3
  8. -1.1DPMDPM Offense -0.9 Defense -0.2 Per 100 possessions:24.1points14.6rebounds6.2assistsP/R/A
    81.5
  9. -1.2DPMDPM Offense -0.7 Defense -0.5 Per 100 possessions:24.9points15.2rebounds2.8assistsP/R/A
    81.4
  10. -0.8DPMDPM Offense -0.8 Defense 0.0 Per 100 possessions:20.9points10.8rebounds3.1assistsP/R/A
    81.1
How these matches work

Each player's latest published profile is compared with today's league. The score uses standardized differences in DPM, offense, defense, age, scoring, assists, rebounds, blocks, steals, turnovers, three-point shot share and free-throw rate. DPM and age carry the most weight. Historical trajectory and a same-age cutoff are not used here.

100 is an identical profile, so a current player is his own first match. Scores fall by 8 points per unit of weighted distance, down to zero. This is a similarity index, not a probability. Box-score figures are projections per 100 possessions, so playing time does not distort the comparison.

Value

Contract & longevity

DARKO's fair salary from projected wins against Kel'el Ware's salary, and the odds of still being on an NBA roster in each coming season.

Fair value
$3.6M
DARKO's market estimate
Salary
$4.7M
Actual
Surplus
-$1.1M
Value minus salary
WARP
0.6
Wins above replacement
Seasons left
6.7
Projected, within 15
Retires at
29.7
Projected age

Career

Season by season

DPM going into each season's last game, since 1996-97.

Kel'el Ware, season by season
SeasonTeamAgeGamesMPGDPMOffDefFor his age
2026-27 so farMIL221117.3-1.36-0.69-0.67—
2025-26MIA217722.1-1.15-0.42-0.73266th of 571
2024-25MIA2164 +422.2-1.23-1.52+0.29286th of 571

Games are regular season; +n are playoff games. "For his age" ranks the season's DPM among every season at the same age since 1996-97 with 20 or more games. A season's DPM opens the leaderboard on its last game day.

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Projections

Projected box score

DARKO's rest-of-season projections per 100 possessions, and per game at 14.6 projected minutes when he plays and a pace of 98.5.

Kel'el Ware, projected box score
StatPer 100Per game
Points24.37.3
Rebounds17.15.1
Offensive5.61.7
Defensive11.53.5
Assists2.40.7
Steals1.40.4
Blocks2.20.7
Turnovers2.40.7
3-pt attempts7.62.3
FG attempts20.26.1
FT attempts4.11.2
FG% · 3P% · FT%49.7% · 34.3% · 72.3%