Getty Nikola Jovic #5 of the Miami Heat is congratulated by Jimmy Butler #22.
Though he might have gotten off to a slow start, Miami Heat rookie Nikola Jovic put together a six-game stretch last month. After being inactive or not playing in more games than he had points to start the season, Jovic stepped up in a big way when the team needed him.
In a six-game stretch between November 16-25, Jovic averaged 9.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. It left fans excited about yet another potential come-from-nowhere story in Miami, doubly so since he’s so young.
But with the Heat getting back to full strength, Jovic was sent back down to the G-League to get more reps in. And while he’s there, head coach Erik Spoelstra is keeping an eye out to see if Jovic checks off the boxes on Spo’s to-do list.
“Everything is important for [Jovic] this year, really,” Spoelstra said last week. “When he’s with us, it’s important just to see how we operate, what expected from a workload standpoint, from a player development standpoint. Also, learning how to stay ready so you don’t have to get ready and that your opportunities can happen at any time. We’re not just going to play him 40-plus minutes. He has to earn those minutes and contribute to winning to be able to get more minutes.”
Jovic is a ‘Bridge to the Future’ for the Heat
The Miami Heat are not a team that usually spends time worrying about the draft. Chalk it up to the beautiful Floridian summers, Pat Riley’s penchant for the perfect tan, or whatever else you want. The truth remains: since 2016, the Heat have drafted a whopping five players.
Jovic represents the latest youthful addition to a Heat team that is split between aging stars (Kyle Lowry, Jimmy Butler) and intriguing young talent (Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo). And according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinal, Jovic could join the latter two as the Heat’s next generation of stars.
“In Nikola Jovic, you can see a bridge to the future. That is why it is essential to determine how he might fit going forward with Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. That might be your young core moving forward. Not quite ready to call it a Big Three, But there is a unique combined skill set with those three, particularly if Jovic can take some of the ballhandling onus off Herro in the years when Kyle Lowry has moved on.”
Nikola Jovic started at center for the Heat Wednesday night with Bam Adebayo sidelined, and the rookie proceeded to score 11 of Miami’s first 20 points. He finished with 13 – easily a career high.
Jimmy Butler Taunts Heat Rookie
Jimmy Butler is no stranger to giving teammates an earful of criticism. Thankfully, since coming to Miami, Butler’s been fairly copacetic with his teammates. That is, until recently, when he got in a playful jab with teammate Nikola Jovic about the World Cup in Qatar. Butler is an outspoken Brazil fan, while Jovic, a Serbian national, is very much not.
Butler: You can get on our band wagon.
Jovic: We lost. I’m not joining that team, bro.
Assistant Coach: Who’s your team?
Jovic: Serbia! And I’m not joining the best team in the world.
Butler: Why are you mad at me that we’re the best team in the world?
Jimmy Butler tries to get Nikola Jovic to root for Brazil 😂
Jovic likely got the last laugh, however. Butler’s Brazil tumbled out of the World Cup on Friday, falling to heavy underdog (and, coincidentally enough, Serbia’s Balkan neighbor) Croatia.
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Heat Youngster Must Do More to ‘Earn Those Minutes’ After G-League Demotion