First-round pick Nikola Jovic has officially signed with the Heat, the team announced in a press release.
The Serbian forward was the 27th pick in this year’s draft. Assuming he receives the full 120% of the rookie scale, which is standard, Jovic will earn approximately $2.2MM in his first season and $11.5MM across the four-year deal.
The 19-year-old averaged 11.7 points per game this season while playing for Mega Basket in Europe’s ABA League. He was named the league’s top prospect for the just-completed season and was Junior ABA League MVP in 2021.
Jovic is making his debut with Miami in today’s Summer League California Classic in San Francisco.
For a sec I thought the heat signed Jokic….that would be one hell of a team.
I think a ‘K’ is worth a point more than a ‘V’ in Scrabble and that Nikola is worth about 25 more points per game than this one now.
This is a good pick. Kids got a future. He’s got toughness and gm.
Watching the kid play now
Jovic will look better as he plays more in Vegas summer league.
From clips I’ve seen prior I’m sure
One letter away from being a HOFer
and 75 lbs.
Still made Denver passed up on him, it’d be one fun team to watch with extra confusion.
Still not much of a fan of the Heat pick, although there were only a couple of other guys on the board at that moment, so it’s not awful or anything…I just think for what the situation is with PJ, and also still needing another option at that position, EJ Liddell made the most sense.
The Heat are going to have to work a lot with Jovic in multiple areas. You can tell he grew from being smaller b/c you can see there are times he isnt used to using his length at the rim offensively. They need to work on his left hand finish. They need to work on him being a ball stopper. He has to bring more energy defensively, as that has been an issue. His defensive stance is way too high. He has shown some potential as a help defender in certain situations, but there are also times where his awareness isnt there, and his athleticism isn’t great. He lets way too many guys just blow by him. I’m not actually sure what position he plays, but he might be a useful spot up shooter for now
Summer league is going to be a big deal for Jovic to see what he has improved since his season ended, and also what they’ve been able to show him just this week. They’re going to give him opportunities to be himself, and playmake for now. I want to see what positions he is in defensively, how much he stops the ball, and what kind of energy he brings…I do really love the confidence he plays with
Going to watch today’s game in a bit, and see what he at least looked like, with a couple of the Heat’s main guys not being available until Vegas
“I’m not actually sure what position he plays”
Nor I
Where’s ElDon to set us straight
it’s only the first game, but I see a lot of the things I was talking about, and a little more worrisome defensively than I was already saying, in terms of awareness off ball, and just knowing positioning. He seemed lost, and like he doesnt know what to do at all. Could be nerves, but he seemed awkward out on the floor
Secondly, offensively I saw the same things i saw while scouting. Going left to the rim, and the way he tries to finish, he isnt used to his length. He had a moment in the 1st quarter that was an instant replay of what I had seen on the scouting videos
Obviously, first game, but I think tomorrow is an even bigger test against more guys that are NBA type of players/close than he matched up against today. Point being, they have a lot of work to do with this guy, and I’m not sure they should have signed him. He might have been better off as a stash guy
Many teams will regret passing on this kid!