Heat forward Nikola Jovic, who signed a four-year, $62.4MM rookie scale extension ahead of the 2025/26 season, had a disappointing year, battling back problems and averaging just 7.3 points on .366/.269/.683 shooting in 47 regular season appearances.

As his new contract takes effect, Jovic said on Monday at the Heat’s media day that he hasn’t had any issues with his back in months and is optimistic about being a “spark plug off the bench” in 2026/27, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Head coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters that Jovic “checked all the boxes I wanted him to check” over the summer and said he’s hopeful about what the 23-year-old can bring to the team going forward.

“He was terrific in (World Cup) qualifying games for Serbia. He’s still a young player,” Spoelstra said, according to Jackson and Anthony Chiang of The Herald. “Even though sometimes it feels like I have no patience for that growth… when it doesn’t go as well as he wants it to go, it’s OK. It doesn’t have to be end-of-the-world body language when he misses a couple shots. We all make mistakes. He worked on that and showed accountability this summer. He’s going to make an impact on this team with his versatility.”

We have more on the Heat:

• Heat center Nick Richards admitted that his camp was shocked that a non-guaranteed deal from Miami was the best contract offer he got during the 2026 offseason, tweets Jackson. Richards suggested he’s coming to camp with a chip on his shoulder after thinking that the summer would “go a different way.”
• Third-year wing Pelle Larsson, who referred to his new four-year, $60MM rookie scale extension as “insane,” said on Monday that he’s expecting to take on more ball-handling responsibilities this fall, as Jackson relays. “We have maybe less point guards,” he said. “I go from being a clear wing to a (combo guard). … A lot of guys can bring it up. I will probably end up being a (point guard) in some lineups. I handled the ball more than I ever had this summer (in World Cup qualifying games for Sweden), so I got some practice.”
• After trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Heat faced questions about whether they’d have enough three-point shooting around star big men Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo, but swingman Simone Fontecchio doesn’t think that will be an issue. Fontecchio said on Monday that he has never been on a team with so many skilled three-point shooters, according to Jackson.
• Every player on the roster passed the Heat’s notorious pre-camp conditioning test, Jackson writes. Point guard Davion Mitchell admitted that he failed the test last year but said he lost 10 pounds this offseason and is in better shape.
• In case you missed it, we passed along several Heat notes on Monday as well, including some highlights from Antetokounmpo’s media day availability.