With his poor play to start this season, Nikola Jovic may be playing his way not only out of the Miami Heat’s long-term plans, but he may find himself off the team completely if things don’t turn around quickly.
As the next trade season quickly approaches, you can’t help but wonder if Jovic will be on the block with how much he’s struggled to fit in with the team. It’s been a huge surprise that Jovic hasn’t been able to hit his stride in Miami’s new fast-paced offense. So much so that nothing can be considered off the table at this point.
Nikola Jovic has fallen out of the Heat’s rotation
Through the first quarter-plus of the season, Jovic is averaging eight points and four rebounds per game on 39 percent shooting from the field overall and 28 percent shooting from 3-point range. Perhaps most concerning, Jovic has almost completely fallen out of the team’s rotation over the last couple of weeks.
Considering that Jovic was a popular breakout candidate heading into the start of this season, this has pretty much been a worst-case scenario for both Jovic and the Heat.
At this point, even though there’s still a good portion of the season left, it’s hard to imagine how he’s going to break out of his recent slump, much less reach the expectations that were placed on his shoulders before the season.
It’s going to be even more difficult with Jovic not a consistent player in the rotation anymore.
Could the Heat flip Nikola Jovic at the trade deadline?
The alternative to the Heat letting Jovic play his way out of his slump is opening the door to trade him at the deadline. While that may make some sense in theory, especially if the front office doesn’t believe he’s a great fit for the team, it is difficult from a logistical standpoint.
Because Jovic signed an extension just before the start of the season, he has a poison pill contract, which will make it that much more difficult to make the money work via trade.
Plus, at this point, it will be difficult to envision teams lining up to take on his extension with how much he’s struggled out of the gate this season.
Nevertheless, there’s still an outside chance he could be used as a trade chip in a bigger deal, should the Heat find themselves in a situation where they’re trading for a big-salary player.
Even though Jovic has struggled this season, there’s reason to believe that he still holds value as a talented young prospect. He’s flashed his potential at various points in his early career, but just hasn’t been able to put everything together.
After all, it would be quite foolish to label him a bust at 22 years old.
But even if he isn’t a bust yet, that doesn’t mean the Heat still considers him a foundational piece of their young core. And, unfortunately, Jovic may be slowly playing his way out of a Heat uniform.