The next steps for Nikola Jović

Nikola Jović is entering his fourth year with the Miami Heat and expectations are larger for him than ever. Up until now, he has been a release valve in the half-court and a nice option in transition, but he needs more to his game to earn a starting role in training camp or to be one of the last five on the floor.

He averaged 12.8 points on 60 percent shooting, with four rebounds and 2.2 assists in six games competing with Serbia in EuroBasket this summer. His time there was positive because he stayed in shape and it allowed him to experiment more with his moves. 

Aside from raising his 3-point touch to the 40 percent range and up, Jović, who wants the ball more in his hands, must upgrade his handle to thrive as a half-court slasher. This would let him take advantage of his 6-foot-10 frame, putting pressure on smaller players. Becoming more dangerous at this would likely see his minutes increase by at least five. 

Jović had an up-and-down 2024-25 season, recording 28 less starts but averaged 5.6 more minutes than his sophomore campaign. To his credit, he improved by 3.8 percent on two-pointers and by a whopping 13.9 percent at close range, per Basketball Reference. 

Here's the problem: he only attempted 37 driving layups last year (51.4 percent) because ball handling in the half-court is much harder than on the break. Turning into a dependable option will take 10 eyes off Tyler Herro, Norm Powell and Bam Adebayo, too, so they can hurt opposing defenses on catch-and-shoot trays and cuts plus rolls. 

On top of that, Jović needs a bit more strength to guard the bigger players closer to the basket and be sharper as a help defender. Boosting his defense would give him the greatest shot at being one of the five on the floor to close games. 

Jović is still only 22 years old, yet at this stage, development is probably mostly on him because that takes time and resources that need to be used on Kel’el Ware and rookie Kasparas Jakučionis. Never forget that Pat Riley told Byron Scott, when entering the 1986-87 season, that the Los Angeles Lakers would not be developing him anymore because he was going into year four. That year, Scott made a big jump on his own. Riley, Spoelstra and the rest of the Heat brass must expect similar growth from Jović.