MIAMI — When it comes to this season’s Miami Heat, the ultimate bounceback example was Jaime Jaquez Jr. — from sophomore slump to follow-up revival to potentially 2026 NBA Sixth Man of the Year.
And yet, when asked about where he would turn for inspiration for a turnaround, Heat forward Nikola Jovic instead cited a former teammate who is playing on this postseason, Duncan Robinson.
“Duncan is someone who already told me about this and went through similar stuff,” Jovic said of his Heat teammate of three years and now shooting star with the Detroit Pistons. “At one point you feel like you’re good enough for the team to help and then all of a sudden you’re at the end of the bench and you feel like you’re never going to see the floor again. It’s all ups and downs.
“It’s just the way the Heat is, I guess.”
As is the NBA way is for those unable to provide consistency, which also had been an issue for Robinson until a breakout deeper in his Heat career than where Jovic currently stands.
For a moment, it appeared Jovic would bypass the opportunity for a season-ending interview, initially listed by the Heat along with Tyler Herro and Andrew Wiggins as players who declined the voluntary session Thursday at Kaseya Center.
Eventually, Jovic came around, offering a perspective of being in a similar Heat position to where Robinson previously stood.
“You’ve got to be good every night for them to continue playing you,” he said, having fallen out of the rotation numerous times as the Heat fell to No. 10 in the East and then were eliminated in their Tuesday night’s play-in opener in overtime by the Charlotte Hornets. “Like I said, in the minutes I have, I’ve got to be perfect to get consistent minutes. If I don’t, I’m just going to be at the end of the bench, I guess.”
Which is where the 2022 Heat first-round pick was for the entirety of the loss to the Hornets, even with the Heat losing starting center Bam Adebayo in the opening ticks of the second quarter to the back injury inflicted by what later was ruled a flagrant foul on Hornets guard LaMelo Ball.
To the Heat, Jovic’s season-ending remarks were the polar opposite of what coach Erik Spoelstra expressed moments earlier from that same seat in the Heat interview room.
“Niko’s objective this offseason?” Spoelstra said. “To not have a victim mindset about it, to not blame anything, just get to work and improve the things that he needs to improve – take it on his shoulders and he’ll be just fine.
“His skill set and his size and all the things that he brings to the table, that’s not lost on any of us.”
And, yes, there also is another similarity to Robinson’s Heat tenure: the weight of a contract.
In August 2021, Robinson agreed to a five-year, $90 million extension, a payday that led to greater inspection, one that weighed so heavily on the payroll that it led to his trade last summer to the Pistons for Simone Fontecchio.
With Jovic, there now is the pressure of the four-year, $62.4 million extension he signed in October that goes into effect next season.
You take the money, you take the pressure.
“He just needs to get out there, take the responsibility,” Spoelstra said, “be ready for camp next year, and be ready to reach the potential that he has as a basketball player. What he does fits.”
The latter of which Jovic could not agree more.
“My playing time and everything, it was a lot of ups and downs this year,” he said. “I really thought it was going to be different when things started. But, you know, things happen and it’s got to be better.”
In the wake of Jovic’s success in international play, Serbia teammate Nikola Jokic, the Denver Nuggets MVP center, cited Jovic’s post-play and success with set pieces. In the movement offense adopted by Spoelstra to pick up pace, Jovic at times appeared lost – when even given a chance.
“I thought this offense was going to be good for me, too,” Jovic said. “I think the part that kind of didn’t help me is the fact that my playing time was so inconsistent.
“After a few games, my minutes just went down and down more, and I just couldn’t find the rhythm. I think this is not a hard offense to play because there’s almost no rules, if I can say it like that, where you don’t have screens that you’ve got to make and stuff like that.”
Playing at center, Jovic said didn’t help either.
“I think I played a lot more in the five this year than anything else,” he said. “So there was a lot of little things that kind of didn’t help me to catch that rhythm that I felt like I needed at one point. I think that’s the only thing. If we keep this offense that was working for us this year, I think I can help for sure. I’ve got to find a way where some stuff can be consistent, and I can, on a nightly basis, help this team win.
“I’ll make sure I work on a lot of stuff that I didn’t think I would need.”