Udonis Haslem Sends Strong Message About New Heat Rookie Nikola Jovic

Getty Nikola Jovic #5 of the Miami Heat poses during the 2022 NBA Rookie Portraits

The Miami Heat were in multiple reports to be looking to add a star player to team up with Jimmy Butler. Miami was reported with interest in acquiring Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets and Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz. There were others, but all of their pursuits looked to be a bit overblown. Now, we head into the 2022-23 NBA season with training camp and the preseason underway and the only real addition that the team made has been with their draft pick Nikola Jovic. 

The Heat officially selected the Serbian star Jovic with their No. 27 overall pick for the 2022 NBA Draft and the move was applauded by many. Jovic can has been playing for a long time and can do it all for the Heat, but most importantly the newly drafted forward can shoot and brings that to this Heat squad. 

Jovic is already making a strong impression in Heat training camp and he’s impressing the right people with the head of Heat Culture, Udonis Haslem singing his praises during the teams camp period. 

Udonis Haslem on Nikola Jovic at Training Camp

Haslem who has been in the NBA a whole year longer than Jovic has been alive shared his thoughts with Payton Titus of the Miami Herald on the Heat’s newest addition and his “tremendous skill set.” He also lauded the rookie forward as a “hard worker,” which is high praise coming from Haslem. 

“[Jović] can score anywhere on the basketball court, can shoot with either hand, hard worker,” Haslem said. “Just experience, you know, experience is going to be the biggest thing that he’s going to need is this time over here working with us. The practice every day, competing, the physicality of it, getting in the weight room. And all those things are part of player development that we do very well here.”

The Jovic praise is everything you want to hear from your veteran leader on the teams newest rookie. It’s been clear that Jovic is a developmental player and it is unclear what time he will see this season, but he looks to be a player the Heat can count on in years to come.

Nikola Jovic on Adjusting to the NBA

Jovic in a conversation with Payton Titus of the Miami Herald, said that the NBA players are on “another level” when it comes to strength, which he has made a priority of adding in his new NBA life. 

“Because I’m big, I’m gonna play with big guys,” he said. “Putting on muscle is integral to him becoming the player he and the Heat feel he needs to in order to best help the team.”

Erik Spoelstra on Nikola Jovic’s Move to the NBA

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra was also quoted by Titus sharing what the team has been working on with Jovic to help him adjust to life in the NBA. From everything to schedule and routine and fundamentals.

“It’s laying the foundation,” Spoelstra said. “He has a lot of work to do. We all love his spirit. He comes in with a positive attitude every day to work and assimilate a little bit better. He’s spent a lot of time on his body. He’s also spending a lot of time on his fundamentals, and then he gets fed through a fire hose of the team schematics. But he’s been responding well. I’m not trying to evaluate him right now. I’m just trying to get him comfortable with the routine and the expectations of how we do things.”

Jovic is certainly in good hands with the Heat, who have proven time and time again to be able to develop their players into key pieces of the team in short periods of time.