Nikola Jovic made noticeable progress last season, showing more of his skill set beyond his usual floor-spacing role. He averaged a career-high 15.4 points and 4.1 assists per 36 minutes while shooting a personal-best 45.6 percent, and remains a 37 percent career three-point threat. Jovic's playing time remained limited, preventing a permanent rotation role, but his sample size revealed well-rounded ability. Strong play for Team Serbia at EuroBasket could accelerate his development and increase his profile. Coach Erik Spoelstra noted that Jovic returns from international play more mature and benefiting from winning environments.
The NBA world, or at least the pundits who cover it, doesn't seem to expect much of the Miami Heat for the upcoming season. Even though they brilliantly added Norman Powell at a huge bargain and seemingly scored a steal on draft night with Kasparas Jakucionis falling to the No. 20 pick, their offseason has elicited a collective shoulder shrug from analysts.
You wouldn't think, then, that this group would have a legitimate end-of-season award candidate within its ranks, but Nikola Jovic would like a word on that. With a strong showing at EuroBasket, he might be ready to climb the player ranks in award-winning fashion. Jovic is an early sleeper in the Most Improved Player award race. Jovic has been a bit of a mystery man ever since Miami selected him 27th overall in the 2022 draft.
While he's often deployed as a 6'10" floor spacer-and often aces that role as a 37 percent career three-point shooter-he got to dip a little deeper in his bag the last time around. As a result, he not only netted a career-high 15.4 points per 36 minutes (on a personal-best 45.6 percent shooting), but he also dished out a career-high 4.1 assists (against 1.9 turnovers) per 36 minutes, per Basketball-Reference.
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