On this week’s Heat Check: What should the Miami Heat do ahead of the NBA’s Feb. 5 trade deadline? And the “Mayor of NBA Threads” tells his story. By Pierre Taylor
Miami Heat forward Nikola Jovic is not one to sugarcoat things. It has been a disappointing first half of the season for Jovic, and he knows it.
“I want to play good,” Jovic said ahead of Saturday night’s matchup against the Utah Jazz at Delta Center. “But I’m not making shots right now, and I get a little bit down on myself. That’s it.”
After signing a four-year, $62.4 million extension with the Heat in October, what’s followed for Jovic hasn’t met expectations.
Jovic averaged career highs in points (10.7 per game), assists (2.8) and minutes (25.1) while shooting 45.6 percent from the field and 37.1 percent on threes last season. But Jovic’s production is down across the board in his fourth NBA season.
Jovic is averaging just 8.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game while shooting an inefficient 37.1 percent from the field and 28.5 percent from three-point range this season. Among the 163 players around the NBA who entered Saturday with at least 130 three-point attempts this season, Jovic holds the fourth-worst three-point shooting percentage.
Thursday’s 127-110 loss to the Trail Blazers in Portland was especially rough for Jovic, who struggled as the Heat’s fill-in backup center with usual backup center Kel’el Ware sidelined by a hamstring injury. Jovic finished that defeat with five points on 2-of-8 shooting from the field, 1-of-7 shooting on threes and 0-of-2 shooting from the foul line, five rebounds and three assists in 17 minutes.
Following that underwhelming performance against the Trail Blazers on Thursday, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said the team wants Jovic “to play with assertiveness, with confidence.”
“He’s so important to what we do,” Spoelstra continued Thursday on Jovic. “And this is part of being a professional basketball player and a team, where we want to be better than where we are. We have to show some grit, and Niko has got to show some grit right now to be able to fight through it.”
But Jovic made clear he doesn’t need Spoelstra to challenge him to know he needs to be better.
“I have my own sense of drive,” Jovic, 22, said after the Heat’s morning shootaround in Salt Lake City on Saturday morning. “I want to win. They want to win, too. And, I mean, at the end of the day, I want to be a great player. That’s what drives me every day. Not the fact that coaches have to drive me and stuff like that. I drive myself, and I think I’m my biggest motivator. That’s about it.”
The vulnerable Jovic then admitted “offensively, I just think I’ve got to be a little bit smarter,” especially when playing as the center.
Jovic, who was selected by the Heat with the 27th pick in the first round of the 2022 Draft, is still adjusting to the Heat’s new free-flowing, motion-based offense that doesn’t involve as many screens or handoffs as other offensive schemes.
“We don’t run a lot of plays,” Jovic said. “So I’ve got to figure out how, as a five, do I space a floor and what do I do. Sometimes I feel like I’m lost on the court a little bit, like in spacing. Because I’m not sure where exactly to be. But, yeah, that’s about it. I think it’s that simple.”
But that adjustment hasn’t been simple for Jovic so far.
“I’m adapting,” Jovic said, with the Heat set to close its five-game trip on Sunday against the Suns in Phoenix (8 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun). “Like I always say, whatever coaches need us to do, I’ll do it. I mean, I’m not a guy who you build a system around right now. We’re not going to build our offense around me. So for right now, it’s just whatever coaches need me to do and whatever playstyle they want to play, I just have to adapt. So I don’t think post-ups are going to be a big part of the game. Maybe at one point.”
When asked about Jovic on Saturday, Spoelstra downplayed Jovic’s on-court struggles and the notion that he has lost some of his confidence.
“He’ll be fine,” Spoelstra said. “Every player goes through some pockets of the season where it’s not going exactly how you want to. I think these are big opportunities for growth. When you face it and you embrace it, and then eventually you overcome it, you gain a lot of confidence from that. He’ll be just fine.”
MITCHELL DOUBTFUL
The Heat will likely again be without multiple starters when it takes on the Jazz on Saturday night at Delta Center.
Along with again missing starting guard Tyler Herro, the Heat is also expected to be without starting guard Davion Mitchell for the second straight game and the fourth time in the last six games on Saturday because of a sprained left shoulder.
Miami Heat guard Davion Mitchell (45) on the court in the second half during the NBA basketball game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Kaseya Center in Miami on November 26, 2025. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
Mitchell initially suffered the shoulder injury while trying to run through a screen during the Heat’s Jan. 13 win over the Suns. After hurting his shoulder on Jan. 13, Mitchell missed the next two games before returning to play in two games and then re-aggravating the injury during Tuesday’s win over the Sacramento Kings.
Mitchell, who also missed Thursday’s loss to the Trail Blazers, is listed as doubtful for Saturday’s contest against the Jazz.
“I think I just got to kind of take my time and kind of let this heal,” Mitchell said Saturday morning. “Because I don’t want it to kind be like this the whole season where I’m feeling good and I think I’m fine, and it happens again and I’m going back to square one. So, I just got to take my time.
“When I’m feeling ready, when I’m ready to play contact. What happened was I didn’t play contact before when I got back. And then when I first got contact, it was in the game. So, it’s tough. But I’m going to get through it.”
However, Heat starting guard Norman Powell has been upgraded to available for Saturday’s game against the Jazz after initially being listed as questionable for the contest because of lower back tightness.
But along with missing Herro and likely Mitchell, the Heat will be without Vlad Goldin (G League), Terry Rozier (not with team), Ware (right hamstring strain) and Jahmir Young (G League) on Saturday.
The Jazz will also be short-handed, ruling out Elijah Harkless (G League), Walker Kessler (left shoulder injury recovery), Kevin Love (left knee contusion), Lauri Markkanen (return to competition reconditioning), Georges Niang (left foot stress reaction), John Tonje (G League) and Oscar Tshiebwe (G League) for Saturday’s game against the Heat.
In addition, the Jazz listed center Jusuf Nurkic (illness) as questionable.