Heat’s Jovic blunt about his standing: ‘The way my minutes fall is really sad’
This was supposed to be the season it all came together for Nikola Jovic.
He had his health.
He had his life-altering contract extension (four years, $62.4 million), a deal offered because of his unique skill set (he’s a deft ball-handling 6-10 wing who can shoot from distance) and several strong performances last season.
He had the quiet confidence earned from his good work in FIBA EuroBasket 2025, when he averaged 12.8 points, shot 60% from the field and was Serbia’s second-leading scorer behind Denver center and former NBA MVP Nikola Jokic.
Then he started the opener against Orlando, something he acknowledged was important to him.
But aside from a 29-point eruption against Portland and a game-winning alley-oop inbounds pass against Golden State, his fourth NBA season has mostly been a struggle.
His scoring has dropped from 10.7 to 7.6 points per game, while his field goal percentage has plunged from 45.6% to 39% and his three-point accuracy has dipped from 37.1% to 28.3%.
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He’s playing less in general (he was a healthy scratch in five of the last nine games that he was available) and logging fewer minutes when he does play (19.3 average per game, compared with 25.1 last season).
He has grown to accept the loss of minutes, though nobody would be happy about that.
“If I’m the 11th guy from the bench, we’re going to be really good,” he said. “I’m just staying ready, and the coaching staff is helping me do prepractice again and stuff. I guess at one point I’ll play again.”
Is all of this frustrating for him?
“Of course it is,” he said. “I feel like you get all the talk, the way they believe in you and stuff. I felt great during the last season when I was playing before I got injured. But the same thing happened last year. You go out so quick.
“Even last year, I was starting and then out of nowhere I’m not playing at all. And this year, too. You got to think about it. I started the first game, and the very next game I think I came off the bench as like a ninth man.
“The way my minutes fall is really sad. I’m not trying to think about what they’re thinking because I know it’s hard for them, too. I’m just trying to stay positive and help these guys develop.”
Another issue: He’s averaging a career-high 1.9 turnovers, compared with 1.3 last season in more playing time. He had 12 points, but five turnovers, in a recent loss to the Kings.
“In the minutes I get, I’m not trying to go out and get 20 points to show people that I should be playing,” he said. “It’s more like I’m trying to help the team win. I want to win.”
Because of his youth (he’s 22) and because English is his second language, Jovic sometimes says things that he means innocently enough but sound stunningly blunt when articulated in English.
He said on the eve of the opener, “If we lose, and that first unit doesn’t look good, probably the one that is going to get blamed is going to be me.”
He was removed from the starting lineup after that opening loss in Orlando.
Then, asked last week if he wants to show the Heat that they made the right decision by giving him the contract extension in October, he said: “I know they made the right decision. If they want to pay me and not play me, I don’t mind. I did everything I can to get here. I know how valuable I am. So it’s really simple.”
For Erik Spoelstra, this has often turned into an either/or decision with Simone Fontecchio, who usually gets the call over Jovic even though Fontecchio has made only 11 of his past 53 three-pointers.
Jovic “just has to stay with it,” Spoelstra said. “And each day is an opportunity for him to get better and to make an impression. It’s good that he has practice days to show us. But he’s been working behind the scenes, and he’ll get his opportunity again.”
This and that
▪ Dru Smith and Heat two-way player Jahmir Young became trade-eligible on Monday. Davion Mitchell is now the only Heat player who isn’t yet eligible to be traded, though Miami will need formal league permission to trade Terry Rozier’s contract in the wake of his October arrest for his alleged role in a gambling scheme. Mitchell becomes trade-eligible on Jan. 15.
▪ Tyler Herro entered Monday’s game against Toronto needing one three-pointer to join Pistons wing Duncan Robinson as the only players to make 1,000 three-pointers in a Heat uniform.
▪ Though the Heat’s scoring has dropped, Miami entered Monday’s game having reached the 100 point mark in 25 consecutive games, eclipsing the previous franchise record of 19.
Here’s a look at two areas where the Heat has regressed to the mean, and some interesting stuff from Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem.
This story was originally published December 15, 2025 at 11:04 AM.
