With the Heat looking to impress this season against a tough Eastern Conference, one of the many pieces that could shine this season is 21-year old Nikola Jovic who is entering his third season in the NBA. Looking to have a role with the Heat’s starting lineup this year, head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke before Tuesday’s preseason game against the San Antonio Spurs about the work he’s put in to prepare for 2024.
Jovic was a mainstay in the starting lineup in the latter half of the season prior where he was next to Bam Adebayo bringing size and spacing. Spoelstra would say to ClutchPoints that it has been a positive trajectory for the 21-year old and his time with the Serbian national team in the Paris Olympics, where he won a bronze medal, gives him some much needed experience.
“It’s encouraging that he’s taking these big steps in the last two years,” Spoelstra said. “You know, he put in a great deal of work after the season, in the lead up and it was unfortunate that he got hurt, but I was really glad that he was able to get back with the team and experience that whole deal, the competitive nature of the Olympics, I think, one thing it’s a life experience. But two, it just really, you know, puts an impression on everybody that was there. And I think that was good for him the last two summers were really good and he did a bunch of work with us as well. You can see that work with this player development, but also in terms of getting his body ready, strong, fast, all those things that you need to prepare for an 82-game season.”
Heat’s Nikola Jovic on his role in the starting lineup
Even at such a young age, Spoelstra has the trust in him to start alongside other star players like the aforementioned Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier, and Tyler Herro. As said before, he gives the Heat the size that they need at the power forward position where last season, they also used Haywood Highsmith and Caleb Martin who are smaller than a traditional player at the four.
His main area that he’s looking to hit more consistently is from three-point range where last season, he made 39.9 percent of his shots from deep to go along with averaging 7.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game. In the last Heat preseason game against the New Orleans Pelicans, he made one of four attempts from beyond the arch where Jovic said “it’ll be a lot better” and went into his role.
“I mean, I have to make them,” Jovic said Sunday. “You have a Jimmy and Bam, who can, you know, punish things in the paint. And you have Tyler and Terry, who’s gonna, you know, be what they are, and make plays for others. And I found myself open, you know, almost every time I shot it, I just have to make it. I’m not sure what happened today, it’ll be a lot better for sure. And yeah, I just got to make shots, because there’s not going to be a lot of them and the ones I get, I have to make.”
At any rate, it remains to be seen what kind of jump Jovic will make, especially when surrounded by a ton of other talent in the starting lineup, but fans are excited nonetheless. The Heat have a back to back Tuesday and Wednesday for preseason games taking on the Spurs and Atlanta Hawks.
