Heat rookie Nikola Jovic opening eyes with his passing: ‘I really think I have a skill for it’
Nikola Jovic is already making a strong impression on his new Miami Heat teammates and coaches.
Since training camp opened two weeks ago, the 19-year-old rookie forward has flashed his intriguing skill set at 6-foot-11 and 225 pounds. He can help stretch the floor with his outside shot, looks comfortable operating as both the screener and ball-handler in pick-and-rolls, has proven effective operating in the mid-post, and has the length to be disruptive on the defensive end even as he continues to learn the Heat’s system.
But the one skill that has stood out the most to Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is Jovic’s passing ability.
“I think any young player that knows how to pass and is a willing passer is super unique,” Spoelstra said ahead of the Heat’s fifth and final preseason game on Wednesday night against the New Orleans Pelicans at FTX Arena. “All these players coming up, nobody is really looking to pass. They’re looking to score, they’re looking to put points on the board. I think it’s just a really interesting skill set, when people can see the floor, can see two plays ahead.”
Jovic, who was selected with the No. 27 pick in this year’s draft out of Serbia, has been a Heat preseason revelation. He entered Wednesday averaging 10.8 points while shooting 41.2 percent from the field and 8 of 23 (34.8 percent) from three-point range, 5.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists in four appearances this preseason.
Per 36 minutes, Jovic is averaging 6.9 assists this preseason. That ranks third on the Heat’s roster behind only guards Gabe Vincent (8.8 assists per 36 minutes) and Victor Oladipo (7.4 assists per 36 minutes).
Where does Jovic’s passing skills come from as a teenager that’s once inch away from being classified as a 7-footer? A late growth spurt had him playing as a facilitator for much of the time he was learning the game in Europe.
“I didn’t grow as a kid that much,” Jovic said. “So I was growing little by little, and I always played like a forward or guard. It just came from there, since I was always playing guard. I’m not saying it’s only because of that. I think I have a talent for that and I think the coaches see that.”
There have been multiple alley-oop lobs to fellow rookie Jamal Cain and dribble handoffs to create open threes for Duncan Robinson, and Jovic has done it while avoiding turnover issues.
To go along with 13 assists, Jovic has committed just four turnovers through the first four preseason games.
“I really want to see my team win,” Jovic said when asked why he enjoys playing as a facilitator. “If I can help other players play good and I can find them with good passes to score, we’re going to win. And I enjoy it because if you make a good pass, everybody is happy. I’m happy and the guy who caught the pass is happy. If you do it on your own, only one guy is happy. I mean, that’s just how it goes. I really think I have a skill for it.”
With so many players returning from last season’s team that finished just one win short of reaching the NBA Finals, Jovic may not be part of the Heat’s rotation right away. But it seems like he has opened enough eyes this preseason to at least make the coaching staff consider him.
“He has a really genuine spirit about him that has won everybody over in the locker room,” Spoelstra said. “When you’re around him, he knows how to work, but he also knows how to laugh, he knows how to not take himself seriously and he’s obviously a highly regarded young prospect coming out of Europe. But he has a humility about him. He just has a good way. I think his personality that would be tough to teach, but he has a way of kind of earning everybody’s respect.”
DUNCAN AND STRUS LINEUPS
With so many of the Heat’s regulars in and out of the lineup this preseason, two of the Heat’s best shooters Duncan Robinson and Max Strus have spent some time on the court together in games.
But when the regular season begins, are lineups featuring both Robinson and Strus a realistic option?
“I’m open to anything,” Spoelstra said. “They’re both so ignitable and they both put a tremendous amount of stress on defenses. You can just see a lot of overreactions. They’re off-ball catch-and-shoot players, coming off screens, handoffs, lot of movement. And again, there’s just not a lot of those kind of players in this league right now.
“It’s pretty much a pick-and-roll dominant league a lot of times with three other guys spacing the floor for those high usage players. So I think it’s just a unique part of our menu that we can access and both of them are really electric when they get it going.”
Robinson and Strus logged 284 minutes together last season, with opponents outscoring the Heat by 52 points during that time.
▪ Forward Darius Days, who was on a two-way contract with the Heat, was signed by the Houston Rockets on Tuesday.
Days was waived by the Heat on Sunday in order to promote Cain to a two-way deal. If Days is waived by the Rockets ahead of the regular season, his G League rights would belong to the Heat’s developmental affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
This story was originally published October 12, 2022 at 12:05 PM.
