{"id":94269,"date":"2025-08-28T07:32:56","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T07:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=94269"},"modified":"2025-08-28T07:32:56","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T07:32:56","slug":"heats-nikola-jovic-gets-erik-spoelstra-visit-as-contract-decision-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=94269","title":{"rendered":"Heat\u2019s Nikola Jovic Gets Erik Spoelstra Visit as Contract Decision Looms"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"styles_heroInfoHead__qiDvr\">\n<p class=\"styles_heroDescription__tKRgY\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn1.nbaanalysis.net\/uploads\/16\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-1241595712-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Erik Spoelstra says Miami Heat will be winners from Nikola Jovic stint with  Serbia, 'every time...'\" \/> Miami Heat forward Nikola Jovic has a contract issue ahead while he prepares for 2025 EuroBasket with Serbia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"styles_heroArticleByline__tY2kF\">\n<div class=\"styles_contributors__U90ua\">\n<p data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\">Miami\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/nba\/miami-heat\">Heat<\/a>\u00a0coach Erik Spoelstra would have headed over to Europe no matter the contract situation of one of the top young players on his roster, but certainly, the fact that Nikola Jovic and the Heat will be looking at a contract decision in the coming weeks adds a bit of extra intrigue.<\/p>\n<p data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\">Jovic will be playing this week for Serbia in the 2025 EuroBasket tournament, his fourth major tournament with the national team. He played in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, but averaged just 4.2 points in that tournament. Jovic could make his stamp on Serbian basketball this summer, but the star, no doubt, is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/nba\/player\/nikola-jokic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nikola Jokic<\/a>\u2013and he\u2019s the big reason why Serbia is favored.<\/p>\n<p data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\">Spoelstra, via the Miami Herald, said he is appreciative of what Jovic gets from playing for Serbia.<\/p>\n<p data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m really excited for Niko,\u201d Spoelstra said, in a TV interview,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/sports\/nba\/miami-heat\/article311833478.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via the Miami Herald<\/a>. \u201cI love it when he spends time with the national team. Every time he comes back to us, he comes back more mature. I think being around a group that knows how to win, that really cares about winning, the team is so connected also.\u00a0So I think it makes a big impression on him. We\u2019re looking forward to some great things ahead for him with us.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"und\" dir=\"ltr\">Nikola Jovi\u0107 in 19 Minutes vs Slovenia <\/p>\n<p>18 Points | 7 Rebounds | 8\/10 FG | +28 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IZ6PylHg8J\">pic.twitter.com\/IZ6PylHg8J<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mihailo (@SerbianMamba_) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SerbianMamba_\/status\/1958618778301833655?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 21, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-would-a-nikola-jovic-contract-extension-look-like\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Would a Nikola Jovic Contract Extension Look Like?<\/h2>\n<p data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\">Great things from Jovic have been slow to come in Miami, though. While he has shown flashes of being a very good offensive complement to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/nba\/player\/bam-adebayo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bam Adebayo<\/a>, he has also been inconsistent and simply not good enough defensively. Jovic averaged 10.7 points and 3.9 rebounds, playing 25.1 minutes per game last season.<\/p>\n<p data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\">Still, there\u2019s been improvement, and for a Miami roster short on young prospects, developing Jovic is a priority. One problem, though, is that they also need to pay Jovic. He is heading into his fourth season and eligible for an extension this summer.<\/p>\n<p data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\">There has not been too much discussion on a Jovic extension yet, but Jovic does not want to go to restricted free agency and the Heat, though they\u2019re protecting their summer of 2027 cap space, would like to get Jovic locked up on a reasonable deal.<\/p>\n<p data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\">Jovic is expected to be a bigger part of the Heat offense next season, and as one\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/nba\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NBA<\/a>\u00a0executive said, \u201cHe is probably as cheap as he is going to get right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\">While there have been no specific number son the table between the two sides, John Hollinger of The Athletic noted that an expected deal could be worth around $50-$60 million over four years. The deal would not kick in until the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n<p data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\">That would likely be acceptable for Jovic who, again, does not want to risk being in the kind of position that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/nba\/player\/jonathan-kuminga\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jonathan Kuminga<\/a>\u00a0is in now. And it would be doable for the Heat, because it still leave them cap space to chase a top free agent in 2027.<\/p>\n<p data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\">\n<div class=\"styles_contributorBio__vbMqA\">\n<div class=\"styles_contributorBioWrapper__PCRrp\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Miami Heat forward Nikola Jovic has a contract issue ahead while he prepares for 2025 EuroBasket with Serbia. Miami\u00a0Heat\u00a0coach Erik Spoelstra would have headed over to Europe&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":94276,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Heat\u2019s Nikola Jovic Gets Erik Spoelstra Visit as Contract Decision Looms - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=94269\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Heat\u2019s Nikola Jovic Gets Erik Spoelstra Visit as Contract Decision Looms - News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Miami Heat forward Nikola Jovic has a contract issue ahead while he prepares for 2025 EuroBasket with Serbia. 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