As the Golden State Warriors and Jonathan Kuminga continue their offseason-long soap opera, the Miami Heat should be taking note. They cannot afford a similar headache with Nikola Jovic next summer.

The 22-year-old is extension-eligible right now. If he and the Heat fail to reach an agreement, he will enter restricted free agency over the 2026 offseason. And while Miami would have the right to match any offer, next year’s cap-space landscape is frothier than we’re seeing now. Another team could come in with a contract proposal that forces the Heat into a tough decision.

All of this can and should and must be avoided. Despite never appearing in more than 46 games, Jovic has shown too much offensive upside for Miami to treat as expendable. He is the team’s most bankable frontcourt floor-spacer, making him mission critical to optimizing Bam Adebayo’s body of work inside the arc until or unless Kel’el Ware’s efficiency from deep improves.

This gives Jovic a good amount of leverage in negotiations. So, too, does his performance during Eurobasket. And though this doesn’t mean the Heat must pay him whatever he wants, it does mandate they approach his future more urgently than the Warriors did with Kuminga.

The Heat don’t actually have to sign Nikola Jovic to an extension…

Letting Jovic enter restricted free agency is better for the Heat if they want to carve out cap space over the 2026 offseason. His placeholder salary next summer until he signs a new deal clocks in at $13.3 million. Any extension would likely pay him more. It could behoove Miami to wait on paying him, go about its business using his cap hold next year, and then re-up him after that.

This approach isn’t unfounded. The Philadelphia 76ers used it with Tyrese Maxey over the 2023 offseason to carve out cap space they wound up using on Paul George. The key is communication.

If Jovic knows the Heat are going to take care of him, negotiations are much less likely to turn contentious. The Sixers avoided any drama with Maxey because he was on the same page with the organization. It doesn’t take much for Miami to follow that blueprint with Jovic.

Miami should not rule out extending Jovic, either

To be sure, this isn’t akin to saying the Heat should not re-invest in Jovic now. Their willingness to knife into future cap space by considering a Norman Powell extension proves just the opposite.

In reality, Miami just needs to be open-minded.

Jovic can technically be worth more on a steeper contract, if only because he can be used as a higher amount of matching salary in future trades beginning next summer. On the flip side, the Heat must be careful not to overpay him, otherwise his deal could age into a cap-sheet roadblock.

It’s a tricky balance to strike. Especially when Jovic has fewer than 2,500 career minutes under his belt. But that teensy sample size gives Miami some leverage itself. Chances are Jovic will sign for less now than he would next summer.

Whatever the Heat ultimately decide, they need to keep Golden State and Kuminga in mind. No, their relationship with Jovic isn’t headed in the exact same direction. But the Warriors are probably going to end up offering a deal that saddles them with all of the risk, and none of the potential reward. Miami must strive to avoid a similar result with Jovic.