After eventful summer, Heat’s Nikola Jovic working to build on last season’s growth

It has been an interesting and eventful summer for Miami Heat forward Nikola Jovic.

On one hand, Jovic’s offseason plans were somewhat derailed by left foot and ankle injuries sustained in June during an offseason workout in Miami.

“I would say, the ankle injury was really kind of — I wouldn’t say a big setback for me — but it for sure slowed down the things that I really wanted to do this summer,” Jovic said recently.

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But on the other hand, Jovic recovered in time to become just the sixth different player to win an Olympic medal while with the Heat when he took bronze this summer at the Paris Olympics as a member of the Serbian national team.

“It was unbelievable,” Jovic, 21, said of his first Olympic experience. “It’s just my second year playing for the national team, but those guys have been with the national team for a minute now. ... We got the bronze medal, which is something really important for us and our country.”

Now, Jovic enters training camp with hopes of proving he again deserves a consistent spot in the Heat’s rotation this upcoming season after starting his final 31 appearances (26 regular-season games and five playoff games) last season. He played in just four of the Heat’s first 30 games last season before his eventual promotion to the starting group.

Jovic, who is entering his third NBA season, flashed his impressive combination of size and skill at 6-foot-10 and 205 pounds after becoming the Heat’s starting power forward last season. He averaged 9.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 22.2 minutes per game while shooting 47.6 percent from the field and 39 percent on 4.5 three-point attempts per game while also holding up and improving as a defender during his string of 26 straight starts to close last regular season.

On the offensive end, Jovic’s outside shooting turned into an asset as part of a Heat starting lineup that needs floor spacers around the leading duo of Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler. Jovic became one of the Heat’s best spot-up shooters after moving into the starting lineup, shooting 39.2 percent on 3.9 catch-and-shoot three-point attempts per game during his run of 26 straight starts in the final weeks of the regular season.

Jovic’s passing and knack for pushing the pace were also helpful for a Heat team that played at the second-slowest pace in the NBA last regular season.

But Jovic dedicated this offseason — when he was healthy enough to work on the court — to improving his post-up game in an effort to take advantage of his size against switching defenses.

“I would say the thing I was working on the most was probably just when I have a mismatch in the low post,” said Jovic, who was selected by the Heat with the 27th overall pick in the first round of the 2022 Draft. “When I have small guys on me, I just have to punish them, and that’s something that’s going to help our team a lot. So I would say that was the main thing for me other than still being able to spread the floor and everything. Being able to punish every mismatch is really important part of the game for me and that’s what I was working on. Trying to do as much as I can to be better for the start of the season.”

Jovic is also doing all he can to be ready for the start of training camp next week, as he continues to recover from the lingering effects of the foot and ankle injuries that he sustained early this offseason.

Jovic said earlier this month that he’s “almost fully healthy” and “there’s a little ligament that still has to be 100 percent.” But he added that he expects to be ready to take part in training camp.

The Heat will hold media day Monday at Kaseya Center in Miami before opening training camp at Baha Mar in the Bahamas on Tuesday.

“We’re making sure that my foot is good after every practice because the injury I had is of course not a joke and we really don’t want any new problems with it,” Jovic said on Sept. 11. “So during training camp, I wouldn’t say I’m going to sit down or anything but of course you just want to make sure that everything is good. If something starts hurting by any chance, I’ll probably need to step away. But I don’t think that will be the case and I’m really looking forward to being 100 percent and just giving everything that I have.”

LITTLE DETAILS

The Heat signed wing Nassir Little to a one-year, fully nonguaranteed contract, according to a league source. The Heat made the signing official on Tuesday night.

With no money yet committed to Little, this means the Heat remains about $1.6 million away from crossing the ultra-punitive second apron. If Little was signed to a fully guaranteed one-year contract, his cap hit for the full season would have been more than $2 million — enough to push the Heat past the second apron.

Little’s salary will start counting against the Heat’s salary cap and position against the luxury tax/aprons if he’s still on the roster for the start of the regular season. The deadline for the Heat to cut Little ahead of the regular season is Oct. 19 at 5 p.m.

With Little essentially on a nonguaranteed camp tryout contract, it’s a no-risk signing for the Heat other than the fact that he’s taking up a camp roster spot.

Little, 24, spent the first four seasons of his NBA career with the Portland Trail Blazers prior to being dealt to the Phoenix Suns last offseason as part of the three-team Damian Lillard trade. He was selected by the Trail Blazers with the 25th overall pick in the first round of the 2019 draft.

Little averaged 3.4 points, 1.7 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.2 steals and 0.2 blocks in 10.2 minutes per game while shooting 46 percent from the field and 21 of 70 (30 percent) from three-point range in 45 appearances (two starts) with the Suns last season.

Following the addition of Little, the Heat’s roster is currently at 20 players — one under the 21-player preseason maximum.