LAS VEGAS — Still in Miami Heat colors, still working out at the Heat’s summer-league hotel, still with the opportunity to make things right with the team that drafted him in the first round of the 2022 NBA draft.

For a player who didn’t go anywhere in terms of the NBA trade market this summer, it still has been quite the whirlwind for Nikola Jovic, and for more than the forward’s play the past week with the Serbian national team.

As the Heat reset in the wake of their trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo, a significant portion of last season’s roster is gone, including Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kasparas Jakucionis, with those four sent out in the deal with the Milwaukee Bucks for Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis, along with Norman Powell departing for the Chicago Bulls in free agency.

Yet there on the makeshift practice court at the Heat’s team hotel remains Jovic, who in some regards stood as a player most likely to be dealt after a disappointing 2025-26 season.

“First, I was happy that I stayed,” Jovic said of surviving the Antetokounmpo trade. “I thought I was probably not going to be here. But I’m really happy. Obviously, not only because I’m going to share the court and play with him, but I’m also happy that I’m going to be able to learn from one of the greatest power forwards ever — the way he lives, the way he treats basketball, and stuff like that.

“I’m happy for him, too. I hope he’s going to enjoy everything we can bring him and help him try to win. And I’m happy this team looks pretty good right now.”

The hope once again is that the Heat can get the Jovic who consistently has thrived on the international stage with the Serbian national team, including 22 points and five assists in a July 2 Serbia victory over Switzerland in World Cup qualifying and then 32 points on Monday in a Serbia World Cup qualifying victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“It’s good. I think it builds your confidence back up a little bit,” Jovic, 23, said of the international competition over the past week. “Like I always say, I know how good I am. I never didn’t believe in myself. But it’s always good to look good and play good for your country. It’s good to build my confidence back up a little bit.”

Which was needed, with Jovic not only coming off an uneven season, but with his Heat value on the trade market having cratered just as he is about to begin the four-year, $62.4 million extension signed prior to last season.

“I wasn’t really worried because, like they always say, you cannot control it,” he said of the trade conjecture that continued even after the Antetokounmpo deal. “It’s not up to me, at the end of the day. Of course, I want to stay. As long as I’m here, I want to feel like I’m giving something back to the city, to the fans, to the team. That’s the most important thing to me. I’m happy.

“Hopefully, I can help this team go further this year, and really make our fans and our front office happy.”

What Jovic said can’t happen is viewing last season as a throwaway year.

“I don’t think you ever throw something like that away,” he said. “It wasn’t a great season, but I learned a lot. You learn a lot. I feel like while you’re down like that, I think that’s when you actually learn the most. At that point, you feel like you never want to be at that place again.

“So you do everything to not be at that place again. I feel like I learned a lot. It wasn’t great. The last season wasn’t great, but I learned a lot. Hopefully, this year, I know it’s going to be a lot better.”

And, yes, the extension weighed as his salary was going up and statistics going down.

“I think there was a lot of little stuff that kind of came together and kind of didn’t help me really succeed,” he said. “Also, mentally, I feel like after I signed that deal, it was the first time I felt like I wasn’t really motivated. I felt like I needed something to motivate me more. After you don’t play great, there goes your motivation. You want to be great again.”

Now, there is an opportunity to do that alongside Antetokounmpo, with the mechanics of the deal leaving the Heat short on depth.

“I feel like I’m just going to play smart,” Jovic said of his perceived revised role. “I’m not going to have the ball a lot in my hands. It’s something that we have other guys for that. I’ve got to get my shot right. I think it’s the most important thing. From there, the small things like cuts, working around the baseline, being ready.”

As has been the case when playing alongside Nikola Jokic with the Serbian national team.

“Now you have Bam (Adebayo) and Giannis who pull a lot of attention toward them,” Jovic said. “I feel like everybody else just got to fit perfectly. I watched a lot of film. Even during the national team, you work on the simple things — cuts, flares, offensive rebounds, and stuff like that to try and fit perfectly for the Heat.”

So from Greek national-team opponent on the international scene, now Antetokounmpo as a teammate.

“He’s a beast,” Jovic said. “There’s not much you can say more than that.”