Nikola Jovic Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southeast Notes: Hawks, Heat, Banchero, Magic, Beal

December 28th, 2022 at 7:21pm CST by Rory Maher

Hawks point guard Trae Young was ruled out of Wednesday’s game against Brooklyn due to a left calf contusion, per Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). Starting small forward De’Andre Hunter will also be sidelined for the second straight game with a left ankle sprain.

Young, who is averaging 27.3 PPG, 2.8 RPG and 9.9 APG on .414/.316/.896 shooting through 31 games, was injured in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s loss to Indiana, which dropped the Hawks to 17-17 on the season.

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Heat stars Jimmy Butler (right ankle sprain) and Bam Adebayo (illness) were both out for Monday’s victory over the Wolves, but were back in action for Wednesday’s game against the Lakers, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (subscriber link). However, point guard Kyle Lowry was ruled out for personal reasons, the first time he’s missed a game with that designation in 2022/23 after missing extended time last season due to personal reasons. Gabe Vincent was moved into the starting lineup in Lowry’s place, Winderman adds.
Head coach Erik Spoelstra suggested that backup center Dewayne Dedmon could miss an extended period of time for the Heat as he continues to be hobbled by plantar fasciitis in his left foot, Winderman writes in another subscriber-only story for The Sun Sentinel. “There’s no point in resting him and then if we’re going to be right back to where he is where we’re managing it every single day,” Spoelstra said. “He would like to put it behind you. I don’t know necessarily if he’ll be able to fully put it behind him the way Gabe [Vincent] was with the week or two weeks rest. But our hope is that it will be a lot better than it was.” Still, being down Adebayo and Dedmon on Monday showed the that Heat might have decent depth in the middle, with rookies Nikola Jovic and Orlando Robinson capably filling in, according to Winderman, who notes that Omer Yurtseven shouldn’t be overlooked going forward either, despite being sidelined following ankle surgery.
The Magic have won eight of their past 10 games, and No. 1 overall pick Paolo Banchero has played a big part in their recent surge, as Kelly Iko of The Athletic details. The 6’10” forward says he’s hoping for both team and individual success for the rest of ’22/23. “Hopefully we can make the playoffs or the play-in, get there and win Rookie of the Year. That’s my goal,” he said. The Magic currently trail the Raptors by two-and-a-half games for the final spot in the play-in tournament.
Wizards guard Bradley Beal, who exited Tuesday’s win over Philadelphia with left hamstring soreness, likely won’t be out for long, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Beal was officially ruled out of Wednesday’s game against Phoenix (Twitter link via Ava Wallace of The Washington Post), but Charania says he is considered day-to-day and could be back for Friday’s contest in Orlando.

Heat Notes: Oladipo, Butler, Lowry, Jovic, Martin, Highsmith

December 6th, 2022 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Heat guard Victor Oladipo has been upgraded to questionable for Tuesday’s game against Detroit, says Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, noting that it’s the first time Oladipo has received that designation this season. The former All-Star has yet to appear in a game this fall due to left knee tendinosis, but it sounds like his debut is imminent.

If Oladipo is able to play on Tuesday, it would help the Heat make up for some other veteran absences. As Chiang writes, Jimmy Butler, who recently missed seven games due to a knee injury, has been ruled out for the second night of a back-to-back set as the club attempts to manage his workload.

A handful of players have also been listed as questionable, including Kyle Lowry due to left ankle discomfort, per Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link). Lowry is the only Heat player who has yet to miss a game this season, but that streak appears to be in jeopardy.

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Heat rookie Nikola Jovic didn’t shoot the ball well in his first game with the Sioux Falls Skyforce on Sunday, making just 3-of-12 shots from the field. But he appreciated the opportunity to play big minutes and wouldn’t object to another G League assignment, as Chiang relays for The Miami Herald. “It helps me a lot with my feel for the game,” Jovic said. “I can try to do things more than with the Heat because the ball is in my hands in Sioux Falls and it’s sometimes on me to work and try to get a shot. But when I’m with the Heat, I’m doing the same thing but it’s not on me to be that guy right now. I don’t know yet, but I think I’ll probably go back (to Sioux Falls) again and I think it’s a great thing for me.”
Asked to play power forward this season following P.J. Tucker‘s departure, Caleb Martin has expanded his game for the Heat, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Meanwhile, in his Miami Herald mailbag, Chiang wonders whether Martin’s skill set is being maximized in his current role.
Heat forward Haywood Highsmith didn’t initially realize that he had increased the partial guarantee on his contract to $700K last week, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I’m not going to lie. I didn’t realize it at all,” he said. “… I forgot. I thought it was in January. I should know those dates.” The rest of Highsmith’s $1.75MM salary for 2022/23 will become guaranteed if he remains under contract through January 7.

Heat Notes: Health, Oladipo, Reserves, Big Four

December 4th, 2022 at 12:00pm CST by Luke Adams

At 11-12, the Heat remain below .500 for the time being, but with their lineup finally getting healthy, the team submitted a statement win over the Celtics in Boston on Friday night, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, who suggests that it may be premature to rule out last year’s two Eastern Conference Finals teams meeting again in that series this year.

“We never lost confidence in this group, in ourselves,” Jimmy Butler said after the victory, Miami’s fourth in five games. “We know what we’re capable of. We just have to go out and prove it. We’re not worried about anybody else, just the guys in our locker room and coaching staff, ownership, management. We have a long way to go but we can get there.”

Given that the Heat are still outside of the playoff picture in the East, tied for ninth in the conference, they’ll need to show more to be widely considered a serious threat to make it to the Finals. But the players in the locker room aren’t worried about what outside observers think the team can and can’t do.

“You got to think about it, we were No. 1 in the East (last season) and people didn’t even pay us any mind,” Bam Adebayo said. “Then being where we’re at now, they’re definitely not talking about us. The biggest thing for us is just stacking up the wins.”

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Victor Oladipo, who has been sidelined all season due to a knee injury, isn’t ready to offer a specific target date for his return, but said “hopefully soon” when asked when he might be ready to suit up, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. “We’ll see. It’s more of a day to day thing, how I feel and what we feel makes the best sense,” Oladipo said. “I trust our training staff and the people I work with as well, coming up with a solid plan and make sure I’m ready to go.”
Although Oladipo and Omer Yurtseven remain on the shelf, the Heat are otherwise relatively healthy after fighting a serious battle with the injury bug during the first quarter of the season. Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel examines whether a handful of Miami’s reserves, including Haywood Highsmith, Duncan Robinson, and Nikola Jovic, will continue to see regular playing time now that the depth chart isn’t quite so thin.
Friday’s win over Boston represented the first time in over a month that the Heat had Butler, Adebayo, Kyle Lowry, and Tyler Herro all available for the same game. As Winderman details in another Sun Sentinel story, head coach Erik Spoelstra is referring to that quarter as his “Big Four,” and they lived up to that moniker on Friday, scoring 99 of Miami’s 120 points.

Eastern Notes: Simmons, Smart, Heat Injuries, Knicks

November 29th, 2022 at 7:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Ben Simmons will miss his sixth game this season on Wednesday due to a sore left knee. Nets point guard Kyrie Irving said Simmons’ absences impact the club in many ways, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes.

“When he’s not out there we don’t have our point forward, our point guard, being able to initiate easy opportunities, push the ball in transition; so we’ll definitely miss him in the lineup,” Irving said. “Hopefully he comes back [soon], but if he’s dealing with it we just want him to get as healthy as possible and we’ll figure it out.”

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In Joe Mazzulla, Celtics guard Marcus Smart feels he has a head coach that fully trusts him, he told Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. “I think once Coach put his trust in me, we’ve seen how it’s allowed me to blossom and this team to blossom,” Smart said. “So just having a coach that can believe in you and allow you to run the team like he needs you to, that means everything. And then on top of that him being a point guard, that’s just an extra bonus, because he understands the pressure that I have to go through as the point guard in making everybody else happy and sacrificing your own for the team.”
The Heat released their injury report for Wednesday’s game and there’s no less than a dozen names on the list heading into their showdown with the Celtics, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald tweets. Jimmy Butler, Victor Oladipo and Omer Yurtseven are listed as out, while Nikola Jovic, Dewayne Dedmon, Gabe Vincent, Caleb Martin, Tyler Herro, Haywood Highsmith and Duncan Robinson received the questionable tag. Two other players are probable.
The most realistic path to improvement for the Knicks is still the trade route, Ian Begley of SNY TV opines. They’ll continue to seek out top talent and have a surplus of draft picks and some young players to offer teams. Stuck in mediocrity, the only question is whether they’ll make a big move before the trade deadline or wait until the offseason.

Heat Notes: Butler, Martin, Jovic, Lowry, Highsmith

November 25th, 2022 at 7:54pm CST by Rory Maher

Friday marks Jimmy Butler‘s fifth consecutive absence due to right knee soreness, and he’s likely out Sunday at Atlanta as well. However, the expectation is that the 33-year-old forward will return for Wednesday’s game at Boston, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (free account required).

In addition to Butler, Duncan Robinson (left ankle sprain) and Max Strus (right shoulder impingement) continue to deal with their own injuries, Winderman notes. Robinson has now missed three straight, while Friday is Strus’ second straight missed game.

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After signing a three-year, $20.4MM to remain with Miami in the offseason, forward Caleb Martin continues to make progress as a player, Winderman writes for The Sun Sentinel. “Caleb has grown and changed from what he was previously, before,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I still think he’s going to have a game where he’ll be flirting with some triple-doubles, just the way he’s getting into dribble handoffs, the way he can get shooters open shots. There’s going to be one of those nights where he’s just going to fall into all of those being makes, and you’ll look up and he’s going to have eight assists with eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter. I told him the big thing is can he get 10 rebounds. I know he can get the points and assists. He has a knack for the ball, so he’s going to be able to get that as well.” The 27-year-old has hit his stride over the last six games (39.5 minutes), averaging 15.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.2 blocks on .515/.452/.800 shooting.
Rookie Nikola Jovic has flashed intriguing potential as an injury-replacement starter, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (subscriber link). The 19-year-old forward has a lot of work to do defensively, but the Heat are pleased with how he’s developing early on in 2022/23. “He has really good offensive instincts not only as a passer but as a screener, how to get into open spaces, how to execute different things and then his passing and his vision,” Spoelstra said. “As soon as he got here, that was probably his No. 1 strength — his ability to make other guys better. And he’s not afraid of the moment. So he’s comfortable out there, he’s earning the respect of everybody in the locker room and he’s earning his stripes right now.”
Miami continues to be ravaged by injuries, which is the primary reason the team has lost four of its last five games, but Kyle Lowry has been playing some of his best basketball in a Heat uniform, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Haywood Highsmith‘s defense and Martin’s all-around game have also been positives with Miami severely shorthanded, Jackson observes. The Heat are currently 8-11, the No. 12 seed in the East.

Heat Notes: Adebayo, Jovic, Robinson, Butler, Herro, Tax Concerns

November 21st, 2022 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill

The current road trip is turning into a disaster for the short-handed Heat, but Sunday’s loss at Cleveland gave coach Erik Spoelstra a chance to experiment with a new lineup combination, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. First-round pick Nikola Jovic played 17 minutes alongside Bam Adebayo, giving the team two big men who are known for their passing skills.

Although the pairing didn’t get off to a great start — Miami was outscored by four points in their time on the court together — it may be a combination that Spoelstra turns to more often in the future. Adebayo attributed the early struggles to “growing pains” and said he enjoys being partnered with Jovic.

“I feel like with two passing bigs, we can feed off each other,” Adebayo said. “As you can see, (Jovic is) showing he can get in the gaps, he can see stuff. Just working with two guys that can pass, who are versatile, I feel like it makes our offense better.”

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The last thing Miami needed was another injury, but Duncan Robinson limped off the court in the fourth quarter after spraining his left ankle, Chiang states in a separate story. Robinson played 21 minutes after missing Friday’s game with a sprained right hand, but he had to leave Sunday’s contest after stepping on another player’s foot. Spoelstra said Robinson’s status for tonight’s game in Minnesota is uncertain.
The Heat got some good news about Jimmy Butler, who had to return to Miami over the weekend due to right knee soreness, Chiang adds. Tests on Butler’s knee showed no damage, and there’s a chance he could return Wednesday or Friday. Tyler Herro has missed the past seven games with a sprained left ankle, and Spoelstra said, “He’s not quite ready.”
Miami had just seven healthy players on Friday and 10 on Sunday, but luxury tax concerns have prevented the team from filling its open roster spot, Chiang explains in another piece. The Heat are about $200K below the threshold and can’t add another player right now without becoming a taxpaying team. Even a small tax payment this season would have repeater tax ramifications going forward — the team projects to be a taxpayer in upcoming years after signing Herro to a large extension last month.

Heat Notes: Spoelstra, Trade Restrictions, Haslem, Cain

October 30th, 2022 at 10:53am CST by Arthur Hill

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is frustrated by what he has seen from his players during their 2-5 start, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. After finishing with the best record in the East last season, Miami has been plagued by lax defense and poor shot selection, both of which were on display as the team was outscored 71-49 in the first half Saturday by the previously winless Kings.

“Right now, this is about the collective group, how are we going to impact this thing together to impact winning,” Spoelstra said. “If we try to do it any other way, it’s going to lead to an incredible amount of frustration. Anybody that is trying to do it on their own or anybody that is trying to self will it or anybody trying to work any individual goals with this, it ain’t going to work, it ain’t going to work on either end.”

One of the few Heat players who had a good game in Sacramento was Tyler Herro, who scored 34 points, although Spoelstra dismissed it as “not in a winning effort.” Herro, who is adapting to a new role as a starter this season, said the team needs to upgrade its defense, which currently ranks 18th in the league.

“After taking five losses, especially after the first half tonight, it’s time we… lock in and decide what type of team we want to be,” Herro said. “If we’re going to just get in shootouts like in the first half, then that’s the kind of team we want to be. I know we hang our hat on defense, so we’ve got to cover for each other.”

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Miami has limited options for roster moves because Dewayne Dedmon and injured guard Victor Oladipo are both under trade restrictions that prevent them from being moved until January 15, Jackson adds in a separate story. He states that outside of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, the rest of the team has little trade value.
Udonis Haslem saw rare first-quarter minutes Saturday, which shows the Heat’s lack of depth in the frontcourt, notes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The 42-year-old power forward was actually the first player off the bench, replacing Adebayo after he picked up his second foul. Miami was missing Dedmon, who is suffering from an upper-respiratory infection and a foot issue, and Omer Yurtseven, who is rehabbing an injured ankle, but it appears Haslem might have a larger role than originally expected.
Jamal Cain, who earned a two-way contract with a strong preseason performance, will be sent to the team’s G League affiliate in Sioux Falls, Winderman adds. First-round pick Nikola Jovic, who has seen limited playing time in three games, may be headed there as well once Dedmon and Yurtseven are able to play.

NBA Suspends Caleb Martin, Nikola Jovic; Fines Christian Koloko

October 23rd, 2022 at 8:44pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The NBA has suspended Heat forward/guard Caleb Martin and rookie power forward Nikola Jovic, in addition to fining Raptors rookie center Christian Koloko for their roles in an on-court altercation during Saturday’s game, the league has announced in a press release (Twitter link).

Koloko was tackled and sent into the crowd by Martin, whom the NBA referred to as the instigator of the fight. In its presser, the league notes that it fined Koloko $15K because he grabbed Martin during the altercation.

Martin and Koloko were both ejected with technical fouls after fighting for rebounding position midway through the third quarter of a 112-109 Miami home win over Toronto yesterday. Jovic left his team’s bench to support Martin during the fracas, resulting in an automatic one-game suspension.

The Raptors will square off against the Heat again on Miami’s home floor, FTX Arena, tomorrow, October 24, during which Jovic and Martin will serve their suspensions.

After signing a new three-year, $20.5MM deal to stay with Miami in the summer, Martin has started off the season slowly on offense as the team’s starting power forward. He is averaging 6.3 PPG on .333/.167/1.000 through three games, plus 5.3 RPG, 1.7 APG and 1.3 SPG.

The 6’10” Jovic, selected with the No. 27 pick by Miami this summer, has yet to play for the Heat this season. The 7’1″ Koloko, the No. 33 selection in the 2022 draft out of Arizona, has played sparingly thus far for Toronto, averaging 1.7 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 0.7 BPG in 15.7 MPG through his first pro contests.

Heat Notes: Herro, Cain, Jovic, Oladipo, Haslem

October 8th, 2022 at 12:53pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Heat initially offered Tyler Herro a four-year rookie scale extension with $112MM in guaranteed money and incentives that would have pushed its value to $128MM, Joe Vardon of The Athletic reports.

Miami eventually upped the ante, with Herro signing a four-year deal with $120MM in guaranteed money and another $10MM in incentives.

“I wanted to be here and they wanted me here, so I mean, it was something we both wanted to get done,” Herro said. “We’re paying a lot of guys now. … so it was just getting the right number. I think it’s a good deal for both sides.”

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Herro didn’t play in the back-to-back preseason games on Thursday and Friday due to a knee contusion, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald notes.
In the same notebook, Chiang writes that Oakland University rookie Jamal Cain may be forcing the team’s hand with some impressive preseason performances. Cain, who is on an Exhibit 10 deal, had 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, 11 rebounds and five steals in 27 minutes against Brooklyn on Thursday and 19 points, six rebounds and three assists against the Grizzlies on Friday. Cain may not pass through waivers without being claimed, so Miami will have to consider converting him to a standard deal or a two-way, though both of the team’s two-way slots are currently filled.
Along with trying to make his mark on the team, Nikola Jovic is in the midst of finishing high school, Tim Bontemps of ESPN writes. Jovic still has to take one more comprehensive exam to get his high school degree from his Serbian school. He skipped the exam during the spring while undergoing draft workouts.
Victor Oladipo hasn’t played in the preseason as the Heat are taking a cautious approach with the oft-injured guard, according to Chiang. Oladipo re-signed with the club on a two-year, $18.2MM contract this summer. “We’re just getting him ready and that’s really it,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He had a very good camp, he’s doing some really good work right now and we want to keep in this good place.”
Playing 20 seasons with one franchise, putting him in rare company, was one of the reasons why Udonis Haslem decided to keep his career going this season, ESPN’s Israel Gutierrez writes in a lengthy interview with the 42-year-old big man. “I want kids somewhere to say, ‘I want to have a career like Udonis Haslem — undrafted, worked for everything I got, won three championships, retired and went into ownership with the same organization I played with for 20 years,” Haslem said.

Heat Notes: Herro, Robinson, Oladipo, Jovic

October 3rd, 2022 at 9:10am CST by Arthur Hill

After waiting all summer for an extension, Heat shooting guard Tyler Herro has agreed to a deal that could top many of his peers, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Herro’s new contract, which takes effect next season, could pay him up to $130MM over four years, with $120MM guaranteed and the rest available through incentives.

Herro has the opportunity to earn more than the Knicks’ RJ Barrett, who recently agreed to a four-year, $120MM rookie scale extension, Jackson notes. Herro’s deal also exceeds the Celtics’ Jaylen Brown, who got a four-year, $107MM extension in 2019, and the Suns’ Mikal Bridges, who signed for four years at $90MM in 2021.

Herro’s base starting salary will be $26.8MM, which is a 20% discount from the projected max, tweets salary cap expert Albert Nahmad.

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The Heat may find it more difficult to find a taker for Duncan Robinson now that Herro’s extension is in place, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. With Herro making just $5.7MM this year on the final season of his rookie contract, he was seen as a possible incentive in a deal for Robinson, but the poison pill provision will make Herro extremely difficult to move in 2022/23. Winderman states that the Heat will be limited financially unless they can find a taker for Robinson, especially with Max Strus headed toward free agency next summer.
After four years of battling injuries, Victor Oladipo is just focused on staying healthy this season, Winderman adds in a separate story. “I really don’t have any goals or expectations for myself,” he said. “For this team, it’s to win a championship, obviously. But for me, it’s to contribute. Right now, I’m just focused on doing that. I think that sometimes, if we get too far ahead, or look too far back, that sometimes we can be disappointed, and sometimes you can lose sight of what is in front of you. For me, I’m just trying to stay in the moment.”
Nikola Jovic struggled through Summer League, but veteran big man Udonis Haslem sees a lot of potential in the first-round pick, per Payton Titus of The Miami Herald. “[Jović] can score anywhere on the basketball court, can shoot with either hand, hard worker,” Haslem said. “Just experience, you know, experience is going to be the biggest thing that he’s going to need is this time over here working with us. The practice every day, competing, the physicality of it, getting in the weight room. And all those things are part of player development that we do very well here.”