Despite the up and down season for Miami, they are seventh in the East.
The Miami Heat are currently 30-25 on the season which puts them seventh in the Eastern Conference. As they are about to embark on the home stretch of the year, this All-Star break has given the team time to look at the noted “fatal flaws” of the season so far and try to correct them.
One can point to a ton of aspects that has already been documented or even reported by ClutchPoints throughout the season like the constant injuries, the lack of effort on defense and offense during the seven-game skid (which was always to be rectified), and other reasons. However, there is one fatal flaw for Miami that can go under the radar, but has been on notice as of recent.
The Heat’s lack of size, an issue Nikola Jovic can help with
It involves 20-year old, Serbian star Nikola Jovic, who has had a tumultuous season to say the least. Now, this story isn’t being written because Jovic was predicted to be a breakout star this season, but besides his still raw talent at his age, he adds size to a Heat team that desperately lacks in it.
In their usual starting five, it is Terry Rozier, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and the power forward position is usually either Haywood Highsmith or Caleb Martin. Very integral players for the Heat, but the team looks small whenever they face a team as it was especially evident against a team like the Boston Celtics or Milwaukee Bucks.
In previous articles, it has been said that during the NBA Trade deadline or the buyout market, a need can be to add size with some options listed like the Brooklyn Nets’ Dorian Finney-Smith or Danilo Gallinari. However, Finney-Smith was hard to obtain from the Nets and the Bucks ended up getting Gallinari.
A fix that solves the problem for the most part would be to start Jovic who is 6 foot, 10 inches as he adds the size needed, plus he can help with spacing as one of his traits is being a threat from three-point range. However, playing time has been sporadic for the young star.
A look at previous starts for Jovic who is 20 years old
In some cases, it’s understandable as he is very young, but one can argue the best way to hone in your abilities is to get playing time. Which recently, he has been getting as with stars such as Butler, Rozier, and Richardson out, he has been inserted into the starting lineup the past two games.
The Heat won both of those games to good East teams like the Bucks and the Philadelphia 76ers, where against the former, he scored a career-high 24 points and collected seven rebounds. Before the few starts recently, his playing time has been little to none.
He spoke about the playing time to Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel saying that “it’s wild” that his use is either he starts or he doesn’t get any minutes at all. However, he is loving the experience, crediting it as an important learning process as he expressed that “it’s going to work out.”
“The wild thing is,” Jovic said. “Either I start or I don’t play. It’s wild.”
“I love it,” Jovic continued. “I get to learn and I need to be ready when I get a chance. I’m working hard like I always do. I feel like everybody sees the improvement. I mean I want to play. Playing is the most important thing. But I feel like as long as they believe in me and I believe in them, it’s going to work out.”
Erik Spoelstra talking about Jovic’s development
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra has said it on numerous occasions that Jovic has and will be a significant key to this Heat team. After the win to Milwaukee right before the break, he said that Jovic has been “very dedicated,” that he sees a “maturity and growth,” and says his 14 starts have been good for his development.
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