Ira Winderman explained why he believes it would be in the best interest of the Miami Heat to start Nikola Jovic at the power forward position to begin the 2024-25 campaign.
“Then it gets interesting for the Heat on multiple levels,” Winderman wrote in response to a question asking what if Erik Spoelstra decides not to start Jovic. “First, I’ve been listing Nikola Jovic as the starting four because I’m not sure I see another option on this roster. I still think it would be too soon for Kel’el Ware. Haywood Highsmith would be an undersized stretch. It hardly would be maximizing Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s skill set. And it seems as if the Heat and Erik Spoelstra have moved beyond a pairing of Bam Adebayo and Kevin Love in the first five. But…if the Heat do move in such a direction, then I’m not sure where Nikola Jovic might fit as Erik Spoelstra cycles through his rotation, considering the volume of wing options he has at his disposal in smaller-ball pairings. So I almost think you start Nikola at the start of the season to initially get the best read on your roster. Of course, that all could be what camp is about.”
Winderman suggests that Ware doesn’t have the experience necessary to start for the Heat right away, and one can see where he’s coming from. Ware is a rookie who has yet to play in a regular-season NBA game, though he is just one year younger than Jovic at 20 years old and played at a high level on both sides of the ball in Miami’s stint in the Las Vegas Summer League.
Jovic — who played the power forward position for the Heat last season — started plenty of games during the 2023-24 regular season, his second season in the pros. After all, he got the start in 38 of the 46 games he appeared in as a sophomore and averaged 7.7 points on 45.2 percent accuracy from the floor and 39.9 percent from 3-point range as well as 4.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.
The 21-year-old also was a member of Miami’s starting five for every one of the Heat’s five games during the 2024 NBA Playoffs. The play of Jovic was one of only a few positive takeaways from the team’s stint in the playoffs, considering the Heat were thoroughly outplayed by the Boston Celtics in the first round.
Against the 2024 NBA champions, Jovic served as a consistent 3-point shooter and rebounding presence. He averaged 4.4 3-point attempts per contest and knocked down 40.9 percent of those attempts, which is an impressive combination of efficiency and volume.
Additionally, Jovic averaged 6.6 rebounds per game, which marked the second-most of any player who suited up for the Heat behind only Adebayo, who averaged a team-high 9.4. The lion’s share of Jovic’s rebounds were defensive rebounds, though, considering he averaged just 0.4 offensive rebounds per contest.
Only time will tell who the Heat will roll with as their starting power forward at the start of the 2024-25 regular season, but Jovic stands out as a legitimate contender to earn that spot in the starting lineup.