Miami Heat’s Nikola Jovic POISED for BREAKOUT Season | Can Miami CAPITALIZE on His VERSATILITY?

Miami Heat’s Nikola Jovic POISED for BREAKOUT Season | Can Miami CAPITALIZE on His VERSATILITY?

After a solid showing during the Euro Basket tournament, is Nicola Yovic ready to take a leap? And what can the Heat do to take advantage of Yovic’s versatility? We answer that on today’s episode of Locked on Heat. [Music] You are Locked on Heat, your daily Miami Heat podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. All right, welcome to Locked on Heat, your daily podcast on the Miami Heat. Whether you’re tuning in on YouTube or on your favorite podcast app, thanks so much for making Locked on Heat your first listen every day. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the FanDuel app today. I’m Wes Goldberg, host of Locked on NBA Daily and Real GM radio. Here with David Rmill. Both of us are credentialed Heat Media members who cover this team every day. And we have a great show for you today. We are continuing our 25 of 25 series with a look at one of David’s all-time favorite players. But I want to start with this upcoming season. And when I’m looking at this roster, David, trying to figure out how this Heat team can make the playoffs, can be competitive, can exceed expectations. Even when I wa when I look at this roster, my eyes keep ending up on Nikolai Yovic. He might be the ultimate wild card in this group given the way that this roster is built. I’d argue that we of all the bigs on the roster and you really only have three of them. You know what you’re going to get from Bam and Kel Wear, right? Like Bam, we’re going to get a bounceback year from him. We know that we’re going to get the allworld level defense. We’re going to get decent enough production on offense. We’re going to get all that stuff. With Kell, we know, okay, development year, there’ll be ups ups and downs. like we almost understand like there’s going to be inconsistencies with Clawware, but we pretty much know what that is going to look like. It’s going to look like development. We really don’t know what to expect though with Nico. And as the only other big on this roster, I think that’s a massive question. And for the Heat again to exceed expectations, to be competitive, to make the playoffs, they need him to be good because if he’s not good, then I don’t know how many good bigs Miami has. one in BAM considering that we really don’t know if we is going to be a positive or negative. We just know that it’s going to be a develop it’ll be continuing his development whatever they really need Nikico to be good and I think that’s why he might be the ultimate swing factor and it’s why I think we want to talk about right now what does a leap for Nico look like and how could Miami help him do that. So many different players and it I don’t think we’ve ever been in this position before because it almost feels like an entirely new roster even when it really isn’t. They’ve made some changes, but the addition of Norm Powell and even he isn’t free of this potential because we don’t know what he’s capable of. We don’t know what he’s going to do in this role that Miami is expecting him to fill now we’re going to get another year. Tyler Herro and can he continue to build off an all-star season? Does Bam make that uh bounce back? Does Khil show the consistency necessary for him to be an above average player most of the time? Does Andrew Wiggins understand his role, what he’s capable of? And yet, you look at all that and yet Nikico Yoic possesses the kind of versatility and potential that I think most Heat fans are really excited to see be fulfilled because he’s capable of doing things that the other bigs are not. that he’s capable of doing something that all the other reserve players are not. Will he be able to grow to such a point where he takes on more of a role? Will he become a starter? Could he supplant um Khalil Wear even in the starting lineup? Because we’ve talked about that possibility before where there is a a very good lineup possibility that includes Yoic at the four playing alongside Bam if Wear isn’t able to play as consistently as we hoped that he might. So there’s a lot of players that have the potential to be a major X factor and yet none of them have the kind of versatility and potential that Yovic does. And so there are so many questions about how he’ll continue to build on that and as far as what the Heat have to do in order to jump in really quick. Yeah. Or not only the potential that Yovic has, but the importance if he’s no good. Yes. There’s no back fill for him, right? If Himeh Hakas Jr. isn’t any good, they have other options at that position, right? They can go Andrew Wiggins. They can go with Simone Fentio, Pel Larson, like Norm Powell can move down and play some of that’s they have other options. If Yovic isn’t any good, there don’t there’s not another option on the roster, right? There’s not another guy who could play power forward and maybe even dabble a little bit with center, right? There’s nobody else who’s 610, 6’11 on the roster outside of the two guys who we imagine are going to be the starters and bam and wear. And that’s what’s so that that’s what makes him such an important piece here. Absolutely. Um his ability to stretch the floor, his ability to bring the ball up. He he he adds such a level of dynamism to the offense and that’s something that’s missing from almost any other player. Like again, Norman here are expected to carry the brunt of the offensive load. That will be their rule and I’m confident that they’ll be able to do it. Although I’m not 100% sure because this is a new position for Norm where he’s being counted on to be not necessarily a lead but maybe a very strong second and I don’t think we’ve seen him play that at any point throughout his career with the exception of last year and even then that was a veteran laden team with James Harden leading everything and Kawwai providing occasional production etc. But this is a very different place for North. But as far as Nico is concerned, just his ability to add something that the other bigs cannot and to be able to tie it all together. Yeah. And that that’s really where I see what he can do is that he’s going to be the one that can tie everything because you could put him in so many different lineups like he could play the four, he could play the three, he could be a point forward, he could be the guy who kind of again stretches the floor. And if his defense is up to par, then you feel much more comfortable having him be the Swiss Army knife that he can be offensively where you can slide him into all these different spots on the in the rotation and he’ll be able to function at a high level and bring out what everybody can do because of his playmaking ability. So, there’s uh so much potential tied into his his versatility that I I’m excited to see whether or not he continues to take a leap. And a big part of this is just making shots, right? Like I don’t I agree with everything that you’re saying in terms of the versatility and what he can do with the ball in his hands and stuff like that. He’s got to make shots and there’s some games where at the NBA level he’s not making shots and then it kind of seems to torpedo the rest of his game. Yes. Right. Where he just doesn’t but then when he’s making shots all of a sudden you see him a little bit more active in transition. There’s more pep in his step defensively. He had a really good Euro basket showing. He averaged almost 13 points per game on shooting splits of 60 52 92. I mean, that’s elite. Now, he was playing off of Nikolic and a really good Serbia roster, but those are elite numbers and that’s that’s what we’re talking about making shots. Now, he’s not he’s not going to shoot 60% overall and 50 2% from three for the balance of the NBA season. We know that. But David, what’s your confidence scale like 1 to 10 based on his Euro basket showing that this means that there is a leap coming? That’s a tough one to answer because there’s the fact that it’s a Euro basket tournament. So, it’s a completely different league with completely different style of play. And as you mentioned, playing off Jokic maximizes what everybody can do. He’s that good of a player. He bends the floor so completely unlike any other player in the NBA. And so I wonder how much of that’s going to translate because we’ve seen Nico be in this position before where we see him take a a leap of confidence and you expect him to be the kind of player who can be an impact level player in the NBA and it hasn’t materialized right away. There’s an adjustment period because Yokic isn’t there to provide those easy shots. So I’m at a six and I don’t think that’s a bad thing necessarily. Yeah, I think that’s fairly high. I mean, guy played a dozen games in a different league. Yeah. Playing off the best player in the world and you’re at a six. Like, that to me is pretty high. To me, what I’m looking for is that he’s going to keep that confidence level because we have, and it’s a great point you bring up. When the the three isn’t falling, the other deficiency in his game become much more glaring and obvious. And part of that is psychological and part of that is Nico’s own fault. He he just seems to regress and and we’ve seen it a number of times like covering him and talking to him and and knowing how much of an important factor it is for him to retain that kind of level of confidence. And yet we’ve seen him in games where he misses a shot and his head drops a little bit too low and he’s not necessarily snapping back on defense or being that kind of active level engagement when the shot isn’t following. And this is so important for him specifically because of everything else that he’s capable of doing. He has to be able to still be fully engaged and that’s what I’m hoping this tournament provides to him finally. We’ve seen a taste of it before and unfortunately he did regress. The shot wasn’t falling to start last season even when he was given the starting job and then he was just never quite the same player that we expected him to be. This season I think there’s the maturity that comes with being 22 with understanding again on a very good Serbian roster he was the second best player at times he was the even the best player. He looked aggressive out there. He looked like he was confident shot. Well, it’s enough, you know, it’s enough to say he’s the second best player behind the best player in the world. That’s still a pretty good outcome. Okay. I would in the sense that, you know, Jokic can turn it on and off. Like he’s that good where he’s like, you know what, I don’t have to do I don’t think anybody was ever mistaken though. Like you think the other Nicolo might be the best one on the team. Like nobody was ever really thinking that. All right. All right. Okay. Maybe I over I got to check the hyperbole here and there. Um, look, I do want to talk a little bit about what this leap looks like. Um, like let’s get into real specifics. What does he have to do? What’s the production that we’re looking for that would signify a leap in, by the way, a contract year for Nikico Yoic? We’ll talk about that next before we get to our 2525 series after this. Today’s episode is brought to you by 5Hour Energy. Caffeine just got a flavor upgrade. 5-hour energy shots deliver tasty caffeine in 17 bold flavors. Each 2 oz shot packs the caffeine of a premium 12 ounce cup of coffee or plus B vitamins and nutrients with zero sugar and zero crashes. What I love most is how portable they are. Big taste shot. You could just take it anywhere you get you go and get that boost whenever you need it. So many different flavors. I’m I personal favorite is the berry flavor. I really like the the way it all kind of ties in together and it’s just a quick boost. You know what? Again, sometimes during the course of the day, I get a little rund down. It happens to all of us here in South Florida. I know 305 is gapito time, but guess what? If you’re not available to get that capacito shot, or even if you are, get a little extra boost with 5h hour energy. It’s that good. Enough with boring flavorless caffeine. It’s time to give your caffeine a flavor upgrade with fivehour energy shots. Give me the get the favorites you love or be bold and try something new in store or online at www.5our energergy.com or via Amazon today. We’ll be right back. [Music] Thanks again for making Lockdown Heat your first listen every day. Before we get to our 25 of 25 series, uh what does the leap for Nikolovich look like? So, one of the things that I want to discuss is just how he’s used. We’ve talked about that a lot while we were watching Euro Basket, David. It just we loved how Serbia played fast uptempo. They they got Nico involved in the open court, whether it was him bringing the ball up off of a rebound or just finding him in transition and all these things. And it just felt like at the NBA level for Miami, too often he was just parked in the corner. Yeah. And then you look at the numbers and then you’re like, I kind of see why they parked him in the corner. He shot 47 and 48% from the corners over the last two seasons. That’s really good. And it’s really hard not to park that guy in the corner if he’s doing that. If he’s making half of his shots essentially from those corners, it’s like, okay, yeah, I kind of see why we’re parking you in the corner. Now, you want to diversify it, right? You want to figure out other ways to get him involved. So, and I’m, by the way, I am sure that Eric Spolstra is going to do that. I am sure like Heat fans that are worried about Nico just being parked in the that he’s going to take plenty of shots from the corner because he’s elite at it, but there’s going to be other ways that he’s involved. I promise you that. The thing that I’m really looking at is two things. Okay, we’ve talked enough about the shooting numbers and all that stuff. Sure. It’s the other two things that I’m really concerned about with Nico. Number one, he’s got to play games. He played 15, 46, and 46 games over his first three seasons. He’s got to stay healthy enough with these nagging injuries that it’s it’s like every every little soft tissue injury like knocks him out for a month. Yeah. He’s got to stay healthy and he’s got to maybe play through some of this stuff. Like I’m not going to pretend to be the doctor, but he’s got to play more games. That’s the number one thing first and foremost. The second thing is the rebounding has to get better. I know that Nico doesn’t think of himself as big. He’s openly bristled about playing center in the G-League. I got news for you, dude. You’re 610, you’re 6’11. I don’t care what position you are. You could be a point guard at 6’10. As long as you’re 6’10, you’re still going to be asked to rebound and you’re still going to be expected to rebound. It doesn’t matter what position you play. If you’re that tall, you’re supposed to go get the ball. That’s the job. And when I see your rebounding rate go down with more minutes last year where you’re averaging less than four rebounds per game and 25 minutes per game, that is a major red flag. And I know it’s something that the Heat coaching staff is ask is is is on him to do is, hey, get stronger, be more physical, play with physicality, play with force, go get the damn ball when it goes up. You got to rebound. And by the way, that was a underrated way that he was used in Serbia. A lot of don’t run the play for me stuff. Cutting off the ball, getting offensive putbacks. We saw this a number of times in Serbia where he was punishing Smalls. He’s got it in him. Now, maybe it’s easier said than done. Maybe it’s easier to do in the Euro basket tournament than it is in the NBA, but you got to do it at the NBA. That to me, when you ask what does the leap look like, that’s what that looks like. I’m not looking just for, hey, he made more shots than he did last year. He shot a higher percent. That’s to me isn’t a leap. To me, a leap is a qualitative improvement in the way you play. And that’s what that would look like for me. The first point I think is an important one because it’s the mist time that it’s always seems like it’s steamrolled whatever progress he’s made within the course of the season. And I think that’s going to be a I think it’s going to be less of an issue because we’ve seen him put on muscle. And I think that’s also something that comes with age, getting used to the wear and tear of the NBA game and having to deal with a heightened level of physicality. And we saw this from Tyler last year one summer after being called fragile by Pat Riley. He played the most games he has and he wound up having an all-star campaign and he looked like he was really solid, able to absorb contact, etc., and avoid the kind of minor nagging injuries that you pointed out to that have affected Nico. And I think he’s there as well. I think he’s put on some weight. I think he’s going to be able to handle it a little bit more effectively where he’s not going to get hurt. Some of those are fluke injuries. You can’t really predict those. You can’t count on them. But I think he’ll be able to avoid more of them because he’s a little bit stronger, better built, and just able to handle the stress of the NBA game. But the rebounding is crucial, and we need to see him be more active. Uh have a heightened level of urgency when he’s out there, be able to understand this is you can use that physicality. If you’re going to improve physically, guess what? go out and use that strength, that length, and be able to pull down those boards at a higher level because if not, you’re just not much of a factor out there. So, when you talked about uh what the a stat line could look like for him, I’m looking at 156 and four, 58 points. Yes. Yes, it would. But I think that’s something he’s capable of. And and it wouldn’t necessarily be per 36 minutes because we’ve seen him score in spurts where he has had 70 runs by himself. It’s a three here. A couple drives to the basket in transition and it’s a 70 spurt that he himself has led. And I think we can see that taking even another level this year. 15 six and four I think reference. He averaged 10.7 points per game, 3.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists last year. That is improvement across the board, right? That is that is major improvement across the board. And that gets him into that conversation like we’ve talked about. Can he be Miami’s Nause Reed? That’s what that looks like, right? Yes. A real swing factor. for a guy who changes the tempo of the game, the tone of the game, and lifts those bench units when your when your starters are out. Like that’s that kind of player. And that’s the kind of thing I think Miami is expecting from Nikico this year. Um, so we’ll see what happens. Uh, but let’s move on. This is our 25 of 25 series looking back at the top 25 Heat players of the last 25 seasons. Each episode, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at every player who made the list as voted on by us and our Locked on Heat insider community through the lens of what made them a definitive part of the franchise’s history. Tyler Hiro checked in at number nine. Now, number eight, he hails from Slovenia. You know him as the dragon. Zoron knows him as his brother. He’s the media’s favorite player. It is Goran Dragich. David Goran Dragage began playing professionally overseas at age 17, playing in Spain and in his native Slovenia before being selected in the second round of the 2008 NBA draft. He spent a few years in Phoenix, stuck as a reserve before he was traded to the Houston Rockets for a season and a half and emerging as an on andoff starter while averaging nearly 12 points a game. He returned to Phoenix as a free agent in 2012 and enjoyed his breakout season the following year as a full-time starter while averaging 20.3 points and 5.9 assists per game while shooting nearly 41% from three-point range. He was named to the AllNBA third team and even garnered some MVP votes along the way. He played the 2014-15 season on the last year of his contract. And while he would have been fine staying with the Suns, it was clear they didn’t want to pay him and what he was looking for. As a result, the Suns trade him to Miami in February 2015, looking to pair him with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosch in the first year since LeBron James left to Cleveland. But nearly immediately after Dragage was acquired, it was announced that Bosch was dealing with season ending blood clots and Miami season was torpedoed. Dragage struggled to play alongside Wade. But it wasn’t clear if their styles would have meshed better if Bosch had stayed on the roster. However, Dragage did choose to resign with Miami over the Knicks and other suitors in 2015. The following season, Bosch returned and Dragage seemed to take a step back almost in deference to Wade and the strategy worked until Bosch’s season was again cut short. But Miami still managed to win 48 games that season and make it to the second round of the playoffs. Unfortunately, Wade would leave Miami in 2016 to join the Bulls. Bosch was forced to retirement and Draich was suddenly expected to lead a team that was clearly rebuilding around Goran and Hassan Whiteside. team struggled mightily in the 1617 season going an abysmal 11 and 30 to start the year until something just clicked and Dragitch’s scoring averages went from 15 points per game in November to over 22 in February. Drag was tough and aggressive and and endeared himself to Heat fans but refusing to back down in any situation and gaining a reputation as a somewhat dirty player which of course made him even more beloved by Heat fans. playing alongside Dion Waiters. The two formed a solid duo nicknamed 7-Eleven that could attack in multiple ways. The team responded by going 30 and 11 over the second half of the year, but still missing the playoffs. The following year, Dragage would make his lone all-star appearance and what was a solid year, but felt like more of a lifetime achievement honor than anything else. He would undergo knee surgery during Wade’s final year in 2018-19 and played just 36 games and his production waned considerably. But following the acquisition of Jimmy Butler, he was revitalized in a reserve role. And in Butler found a kindred competitive spirit, his Brat that would lead the team to the NBA finals. In the playoffs during the Orlando bubble, Dragich was incredible. Reinserted as a starter, he averaged nearly 20 points per game. His late game heroics will be long remembered as Dragitch seemed to thrive in the Orlando bubble, embracing the opportunity to just focus on basketball like a true Heat lifer. Unfortunately, a nagging case of planter ficitis stopped Rock’s amazing play in game one of the finals. The muscles in the bottom of his foot basically tearing and he would miss the next four games even as Butler almost single-handedly willed the Heat to two wins. Drag ever the Warrior returned the deciding game six despite the excruciating pain. He played in 50 games the following season with Miami, but he was never quite the same. More of a liability than ever defensively and not quite the score he’d previously been. In a painful move, Dragage was sent to Toronto in exchange for Kyle Larry, the top free agent of 2021 to maximize Butler’s championship window in Miami. Dragage would play for a handful of teams over the next two seasons before officially retiring in 2023. He still hangs around the team in no official capacity. The Dragon will fondly be remembered for his fiery competitiveness, losing several teeth and refusing to give up as a big as big a proponent of heat culture as there ever has been and in my opinion best point guard in team history. So much to get into there. We’re going to talk about that where he uh where he ranked among our panel and our biggest Goran Dragage what if moment after this. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. 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[Music] What stands out to me about Dragitch’s time in Miami, when I think back to the those years where he was on the roster, he was so different than pretty much every other star that the Heat have ever had in the way that I mean in the obvious way in that he was European and it just felt like for years the Heat had an aversion to European players. Um, that was probably more coincidental than anything, but it was there. Uh, and then he comes, uh, fresh off of making an allNBA third team, and we’re talking about his finishing numbers at the rim. He was the first star to join the team post LeBron, and it was this reload. It was I remember having conversations with you. Yeah. This is the new big three. What does it look like? Goran Dragic, an allNBA guy. Dwayne Wade, who’s still D. Wade, you know, not obviously not the peak of his powers, but we still think he’s still Dwayne Wade. You know, he still has that aura about him. And Chris Bosch, who we thought could slide into an even bigger role. And we remember talking about how this was going to be a Gor Dragage Chris Bosch team with Dwayne Wade kind of playing off of those two. And that was the vision in a lot of different ways. And so, but then he gets here and he’s he doesn’t have the the the larger than lifeess of a Shaquille O’Neal or a LeBron James or even at that point a Dwayne Wade, right? He doesn’t have, you know, he he he was kind of soft-spoken but very willing to talk with the media. He was very down to earth and he just had this way of ingratiating himself within the fan base almost immediately and again a in a surprising way because we have never he wasn’t familiar to us. He was he was a very different kind of star than we had been accustomed to. We were used to cheering on the likes of Sha and LeBron and and kind of being okay you’re one of us even though the rest of the world doesn’t like you. You’re one of us. And Dragage wasn’t that. Dragage was for everybody. Everybody in the league loved Goran Dragage, including Heat fans, and so it just felt very different in that way. And obviously, he was a tremendous player. And that’s the thing that always sticks out to me. I don’t he’s he might be the most unique star that the Heat have ever had. It’s an interesting way of looking at it, one I hadn’t even considered because when I think of Goran, um, I tend to think of it not too differently than another player we’ve talked about in this top 25 list, which is Josh Richardson. and the the fact that the team seemed to change so frequently during Goron’s stint in Miami that I think his consistency is kind of taken for granted uh not knowing what your role is playing alongside all these different players. Imagine you’re coming into Miami and really you’re expected to be the third wheel of the big three and that’s totally fine. like even coming off an allNNBA season like he had, he was going to be playing alongside Wayne and Bosch who were fresh off a championship run during the big three era. He’s replacing LeBron in that sense, right? And Chris, I think was it within a day or two like the acquisition of Goran took place. I remember we were potting one of our first pods and we were so excited. And we’ve talked, we raved about Goran for an hour and then the next day we’re like, “Oh, and by the way, now we don’t know what’s going to happen because Chris Bosch’s future his like we didn’t know in those early days like he he’s got blood clots.” It’s like, well, is that going to mean that he’s going to miss a month? Is he going to miss two months? And then we find out he’s going to miss a season and then from there is it this is this life-threatening or careerthreatening or we didn’t know. And then he comes back and it’s like, okay, there’s hope again. And we see kind of Dragage seem to embrace that role of playing alongside those two players. But then again, Chris goes down after the all-star break and it’s having to find a way to retool and kind of embrace a different role. Then Dwayne leaves in 2016. It’s a completely new different completely new team with Dion Waiters, with James Johnson, Luke Babbin, Hassan Wides in a bigger role after he gets paid. Very very different. We talked about that 41 and 41 season. It’s just so many different things that Gor was expected to do. Uh and and yet he also start the 2019 era with Jimmy Butler, right? Like he was another guy who bridged Yes. three different eras of he basketball like to the point where I even had forgotten he was coming off the bench that year that Kendrick Nud was a starter point guard alongside Duncan Robinson. Like I didn’t even remember. I was just I’m so used to thinking of Goran being this consistent player who’s always been there and in fact he was coming off the bench he was even a sixman of the year candidate at one point because he was that good and that productive playing in that Jimmy le team and so it it was just this is what I think of when I think of Goran but as you pointed out also his media friendliness always endeared him and one of the first times I had a a one-on-one sit down with a player I think it might have been that 2016 season I was living in Gainesville went to Orlando to cover a shoot around for a match up against the Magic. And I when I tell you he was so giving of his time only I think Pow Gasol another guy who was always known for his media friendliness has given me the same amount of time where he just he waved everybody off. First bus, second bus, none of that mattered. Like he sat down with me even as all the beat reporters were there waiting with their recorders in their hands. And I know we’d be pissed off and we were in the same situation. But they’re all waiting to talk to Goran. Goran just sat down to talk to me. He didn’t even know me and he was just so friendly giving of his time. We talked about everything. And one of the things that stood out to me that time was how he told me how difficult the language barrier had been that Udonis and everybody in that locker room had to encourage him to be a more vocal leader because he never felt quite comfortable being that voice because English was not his native language. So, it was always a challenge for him and it was just great to talk to him and to see him embrace this new role. And none of that underscored like his his competitiveness is his fiery spirit losing teeth, you know, taking a tooth and showing the referee and saying, “I got punched in the face so hard I lost a goddamn tooth and I didn’t even get a foul call.” And uh and just throwing the tooth to the sideline and continuing to play. That was just who he was. So, to me, I just had these like legendary moments, right? like he just time after time and time after time and and it’s that kind of thing that just again ingratiated himself within the Heat fan base. But um we got a few more segments that we want to get to here as we’re running out of time. Highest that he was ranked within our panel was six, the lowest than anybody from the panel ranked him was 10. So nobody ranked him lower than 10. I had him at nine. David, you had him at seven. Uh I want to save the what if moment here for the end here. Is he jersey worthy? Yes, obviously. Hot take. the Vice jersey specifically for Goran Drag. I love those Vice jerseys whether it’s the white one or the blue one specifically. I always thought it looked really good in the blue in that like baby blue one. Um that’s that’s the ultimate Gorra jersey to me. The Jones Badier Zo test 100%. So his peak would be 20 and six on 47% shooting, 40% on threes. Uh he starts with Tyler. Do you do you even make the trade for Norm in that sense if you’ve got Goron? Probably not. Like what kind of weird time machine are we are we doing this now that they already have added Norm Powell? Are we doing this at the beginning of the offseason? Before I still think if it costs Kevin Love and Kyle Anderson, you still just do the Norm Powell trade. But sure, but Norm might be coming off the bench. Maybe he’s coming off the bench. Yeah, he might be the guy who comes off the bench because Gor is a more natural playmaker. He’d be feeding Tyler, he’d be feeding Bam. Just add him to the coaching staff at this point or the front office. My prediction, by the way, I know that everybody, oh, Gor Dragage, he’s going to coach the team or is he going to take a front office role? Here’s my official prediction about Goran Dragage eventually joining the Heat Front Office, which I do believe will happen and it’s up to him. Yeah. And I and my guess is it will happen within the next two or three years. Yeah. And my prediction for the job, it will be a hybrid role. It will be an official role. It won’t be a with all due respect to Udonis Hlam role where he’s spending half of his time on an ESPN set. I think it’ll be an official role where he’s around the team on a daily basis. He’ll be on not not on the road every road game because he still very much cares about his family, but he’ll be on the road sometimes. Yeah. and it’ll have a hybrid role of front office maybe consulting type of stuff alongside player development u on the coaching staff. So that’s my official prediction. I think it’s it’s the same role almost a parallel role to UD’s where he’s got to be playing. He’s got to be practicing like I think he’s still that good and still he wants to and he wants to be practicing but he’ll be like the European liaison now with Yakonas and Yoic on the team like I think he’ll be the guy who answers those questions and and kind of handles those things and as far as developing those guys and taking them under his wing and I think he’s going to see an increased role in that capacity. So it would be something similar to what UD does, but still being very much again I said it in the description like even when he was not on the team, he spoke so highly of Eric Spolstra and he culture that you knew he he loved everything about this team and all the the values it embraces. So it was just uh always nice to see versus pin this player against the guy who came before him. Ask did we get it right? Goran Draach here. Tyler Herro came in right before him at number 10. I think we did get it right. Yes. Any disagreement there? No, not at all. Okay, so this is our sliding doors moment. We’re going to end the show with this. We kind of jumbled it up a little bit. Trivia questions. No trivia. Oh, yeah. Let’s do trivia. I’m sorry we missed it. Go ahead. All right. What Hall of Famer was a huge influence in Draguch’s style of Nash? Yeah. Very good. Uh, what was the nickname for Goran’s effective way of driving to the basket? That wasn’t just nashing. We We call that nashing now. I guess when he would clear a little space. Clear a little space to get to the hoop. Oh. Uh, the shoulder. Um, what did we call it? The iron shoulder. The iron shoulder. Did I get it right? The iron should Yeah, the iron. Wow. I can’t believe I remembered that. Okay, very good. He would put the ball down, just lean in with that right push a little bit and clear his way to the hoop. And that’s why he was able to finish at almost 60% at the rim. He was such a good finisher. Uh, Goran Draich and his brother Zoron made history back in 2015 for something. What was it? Oh, this one’s easy. Uh, when they were both playing with Phoenix, Marcus and Marke Morris were also playing with the Suns, and it was like the first time two all all four of the two sets of twins or whatever were were playing in a game together. Two sets of brothers playing at the same time on the same team. Yeah, absolutely. Good one. You got three for three on this one. You nailed it. Toron Dragish, man. That’s my dude. Um, uh, what if moment? This is a the sliding doors moment. What if moment that could have changed the way we think about this player’s career in Miami? So, there’s only one if he doesn’t break the foot in 2020. That’s it. He was so good. Like, I was looking at his points in the Eastern Conference Finals against Boston and he was so good in that series. He had like 29 point outing in game one. Like, he was dominant. He was roasting dudes. Uh I if anything, I think the move for Derek White doesn’t happen if not for Goran Dragage being as good as he was. like that he kind of just forced things in BO to for Boston to have to change the roster around uh because he did really he hurt Boston that series and he was playing at such a high level. he was dealing with the the planter fascitis even then. But then you expect him to be able to carry the team. I remember making this this point as I was covering the finals. You know, maybe they didn’t have the number one player on the team on on that matchup. Maybe they didn’t even have the best number two player because Anthony Davis was as good as he was. But three through eight, three through nine, I think was in Miami’s favor because you had Jimmy, you had Goran, you had Bam, etc. They had all the best role players and then Bam goes down, Goran goes down and Miamiy’s hopes almost get killed right away if not for Jimmy becoming I don’t know the best player in NBA history during that finals run like he was that good. Um but yeah, if Goran is able to play as well as he did and stay healthy, do they beat the Lakers in 2020? I think so. I I feel pretty confident knowing that if Goran and Bam had stayed healthy, they absolutely would have beaten Los Angeles. So, he gets hurt in the first half of game one of the 2020 finals. Miami is trailing. I mean, that was a close first half. By halftime, they were trailing 65 to 48, but it was close for about a quarter and a half there. And then Dragitch goes down and the wheels kind of fall off at that point. And then he comes back and plays a little bit in game two. Uh, no, I’m sorry. No, he missed game two, three, four, and five. He comes back in game six when it’s like a do or die. They’re down 3-2 at that point and he’s totally unfortun Yeah, he was. He just couldn’t play. He couldn’t move. Like the muscles in his foot as a point guard, a speedy point guard at that point in his career. How can you drive through the hoop? How can you shoot? How can you do anything defensive? Yeah, that was one of those desperation throw the teeth at the throw the tooth at the ref kind of I’m going to go out there. I’m going to go out swinging here. But real warrior. Yeah, it was. Look, who knows if the Heat win that championship. If And by the way, Bam Adabio also gets hurt. Yeah. So now, if they have Bam and Dragic, they have a real shot at winning that finals, right? Because I don’t think we fully, like you said, every Oh, well, you know, the Lakers have the first best player and the second best player. And that is true. They did have the first best player and the well and the Iras that wrong. You think goes off in that series. Does AD go off at BS out there? I mean, you’ve got my Leonard Kelly. Yeah. That was Bam’s first year starting. We didn’t even after the block against Boston, we didn’t fully understand how good Bam was. Yeah. At that point, and there’s no way we could have. We didn’t really fully understand how good Bam was that year. If he was playing and Drag was playing. Yeah. Obviously, the Heat. And now, if we’re talking about Gorandraich in terms of how his career is remembered, if he has a ring, oh yeah, I don’t think that’s enough to make him a Hall of Famer. Close. given international level of play too. I mean, he does have a he had a gold he did win Euro Basket uh in like 200 eight or something. Um yeah, probably not. He has a gold medal. So, he’s got a Euro Basket gold, a ton of under 20 stuff, which I don’t know how much that factors into the basketball hall of fame. Probably not. Um and then, uh one all-star, one allNBA, third team, and a fi and a championship. It’s It’s not enough. It’s not enough. And he’s not He doesn’t have like this crazy level of like Vince Carter type of production, right? Where you’re like, “Wait, why is Vince Carter eighth on the alltime three-pointers made list or something?” Like you’re like, “What?” Yeah. He doesn’t have that level of production of volume. But um still, I think if he’s a guy with a ring, I think he’s probably in the conversation for getting his jersey retired by the Heat, which I don’t think he’s there right now. Oh, I think he is. I think why I love Goran Dragage. You you can’t retire seven. I I I just think I I I he means too much to the team. Again, the the professionalism counts and I think the fact that he was such a a a torch carrying member of Heat culture for as long as he was and um one all-star, zero championships. I don’t know. Maybe it’s not that many years of service with Miami. I mean, he was here for a while, but not like level. Yeah, it it’s maybe it’s not enough, but I think it it it should be like um he was part like he embraced every role. He did everything he could. He he he did, as you said, he was the consistency through three different eras of heat basketball. And that should count for something, too. In my opinion, still a better career than Tim Hardaway in Miami. Like I I think Tim had five really good seasons. Uh Goran had seven really good seasons. So I I think it’s still even if he was coming off the bench, like I had totally forgotten he was a reserve at that point in time and still because he was so productive and so consistent. Um and I and I think the numbers are a lot closer than a lot of people think. You know, Tim might have been flashier. Goran wasn’t. He just was quiet. He was different and he he just played his game and he was always there competitive and always representing the Heat very well. I’ll put it this way. If he wins the championship, it’s a no-brainer. Jersey retired right now. It’s kind of cringy. Yeah. Okay, fair enough. Let us know what you think in the YouTube comments. Should Goran Drag’s jersey be retired by the Miami Heat? For now, thanks for making Lockdown Heat your first listen every day.

Will Nikola Jovic make the leap for the Miami Heat this season?

Wes Goldberg and David Ramil discuss what Jovic needs to do to make the most of this season and why he might be the ultimate swing factor on Miami’s roster. Then also discuss the importance of this season for Jovic, who will be a restricted free agent next summer unless he signs an extension. Finally, they continue their 25 Of 25 series with a look at Goran Dragic.

0:00 Intro
1:30 Jovic’s importance to the Heat
11:30 What does a leap look like?
15:30 25 Of 25: Goran Dragic

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