It might not have appeared this way in the wake of a rookie rollercoaster ride, but an argument could be made that a moment of truth has arrived for Miami Heat neophyte forward Nikola Jovic, even if that moment is coming half a world away, in the colors of the Serbian national team.
Says who? Says Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who in this case stands as a friendly foe on the eve of basketball’s World Cup, serving as an assistant coach with USA Basketball.
For all that Jovic teased with after being selected at No. 27 out of Serbia by the Heat in the 2022 NBA draft, including eight starts during the regular season, it ultimately was the most uneven of rides, with just 15 regular-season appearances and seven playoff cameos.
With a balky back limiting the productivity of the 6-foot-11 big man, Jovic, 20, ultimately was placed on a path to turn this offseason, including both the World Cup and Heat training camp, into his takeoff point for his sophomore NBA turn.
“We spent the last, I would say, six weeks or three months of the season just trying to prepare him for the summer,” Spoelstra said from the Philippines, with both the U.S. and Serbian national teams playing their opening-round World Cup games in Manila, starting Saturday. “And everything we were doing with our program from the conditioning to the weight-room work to the rehab work to the basketball skills development was to prepare him for summer league and then potentially have an opportunity to play for his national team.
“And this is exactly the type of summer and offseason that he needed, to be able to play, to be able to participate in all of our summer-league practices and play in those summer-league games against high-level competition. And we didn’t know necessarily how the Serbian team would shake out. And it’s turned out to be marvelous for him.”
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Amid the uncertainty of whether the Heat will be able to trade for Damian Lillard, with the Trail Blazers All-Star point guard listing Miami as his preferred landing spot, it continues as a period of the great unknown for Jovic.
Unknown if he potentially could be included in a package for Lillard.
Unknown if he will be able to land a role in a Heat power rotation that already includes the big bodies of Bam Adebayo, Kevin Love, Thomas Bryant and Orlando Robinson, with Caleb Martin and Haywood Highsmith potentially in that power mix, as well.
The benefit of Spoelstra and Jovic hunkering down in Manila for the preliminary round of the World Cup is welcomed proximity.
“He’s getting a great opportunity,” Spoelstra said, with Nikola Jokic bypassing the World Cup after leading the Denver Nuggets past the Heat in June’s NBA Finals. “They had about a two-and-half-, three-week training camp, with the exhibition games included. He’s been able to play in all of those games. We were able to send our staff out and see a week of his training camp.
“And we’re in the same place right now. He’s only about five, 10 miles away – with traffic that could end up being about 45 minutes. But we are definitely getting together while we’re out here. So I’m excited about that, as well.”
With the Heat’s unexpected 2022-23 success, there hardly was an urgency to fasttrack Jovic, who also appeared in 12 G League games last season for the Heat’s affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
But the ante will be significant with Serbia’s national team, which is also lacking Oklahoma City Thunder guard Vasilije Micic. Instead, Jovic well could wind up with a prime role, with Bogdan Bogdanovic and Philadelphia 76ers center Filip Petrusev also NBA components on Serbia’s roster.
Serbia will open pool play in Group B, along with South Sudan, China and Puerto Rico. The top two teams advance, then to be placed in a second-round pool with the two survivors from Pool A of Angola, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, and Italy.
Spoelstra said he has been heartened by Jovic’s play in Serbia’s exhibitions leading to the World Cup, even with Jovic at just 22% on 3-pointers during those exhibitions, his stroke adjusted last season by Heat shooting coach Rob Fodor.
“I’ve also been able to watch all of Niko’s games. And that’s been a fun part, to watch,” Spoelstra said. “It was really important, since he missed a decent amount of time last year.”