MIAMI — The games that matter for the Miami Heat officially don’t begin until the Oct. 22 season opener against the Orlando Magic.

And yet meaningful basketball for the Heat is at hand. This coming week. In August.

While none of those involved will be in Heat colors, a case could be made that the impending start of EuroBasket could offer a needed tell when it comes to what might come next for the Heat’s revamped roster.

Even if it comes with Nikola Jovic in Serbia colors, Pelle Larsson representing Sweden, and Simone Fontecchio lining up for Italy.

In each case, an opening statement could be made ahead of the Heat’s Sept. 30 start of training camp at Florida Atlantic University.

In Europe’s championships, arguably the most competitive sphere of international basketball competition, Jovic and Serbia stand as leading men, Fontecchio and Italy have a world-class program, while Larsson and Sweden only now are emerging on the international scene.

Still, for each of the three Heat players participating in the event, much of what Heat coach Erik Spoelstra wants to see, perhaps needs to see, could be on display.

With Jovic, it is stepping into more of a leading role on the Serbian side alongside Nikola Jokic and Bogdan Bogdanovic, just as Spoelstra wants to see from Jovic with the Heat alongside Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro.

For Fontecchio, it is showing in Italy’s efforts that the shooting stroke has been regained after last season’s uneven ride with the Detroit Pistons, perhaps opening a Heat role similar to the player he was dealt for, Duncan Robinson.

And for Larsson, it is about making the most of his opportunity with Sweden, just as he did with the Heat during summer league.

For Jovic and Serbia, EuroBasket starts Wednesday against Estonia in Latvia.

For Larsson and Sweden, it starts Wednesday with the challenge of taking on Lauri Markkanen and Finland in Finland.

And for Fontecchio and Italy, it opens Thursday against Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece in Cyprus.

The perspective on EuroBasket is similar to soccer’s European Championships. Soccer’s Euros might not quite be the World Cup, but there arguably is a greater depth of quality teams. Similarly, EuroBasket may not be basketball’s World Cup or the Olympics, but it rivals, if not exceeds, the level of passion of those two worldwide events.

The Heat got to see that firsthand, when Goran Dragic led Slovenia to the championship at EuroBasket in 2017.

From that breakthrough, Dragic rejoined the Heat days later in training camp and went on to his lone All-Star season.

Dragic’s performance at EuroBasket in many ways was a takeoff point to another level, certainly as a leader, as he counseled a specific youthful Slovenian teammate at the time, namely 18-year-old Luka Doncic.

EuroBasket is a grueling ride, one not without the risk or injury or burnout. EuroBasket will not be over until the Sept. 14 championship game in Latvia, 15 days  before the Heat convene for their Sept. 29 media day at Kaseya Center and then start training camp the next day.

To a degree, that likely made it a smart move not to have Heat first-round pick Kasparas Jakucionis force the issue to play with Lithuania at EuroBasket, the 19-year-old better able to ramp up to his first NBA training camp on the Heat’s practice court at Kaseya Center, alongside Heat staffers and coaches, with the opportunity to digest the team’s playbook.

But if Jovic, Fontecchio or Larsson show something at EuroBasket, it will be tangible and translatable, the level of intensity on a far higher level than the Heat’s six exhibitions, with the NBA players in the event pushing harder than will be on display during any preseason game.

So, yes, basketball, real basketball, meaningful basketball, again this week, in a tournament featuring the likes of MVP-level talents such as Jokic, Antetokounmpo and Doncic, as well as elite NBA players such as Markkanen, Alperen Sengun, Kristaps Porzingis, Franz Wagner, Nikola Vucevic, Alex Sarr and Zaccharie Risacher.

And for the Heat, a petri dish before the next level of experimentation in camp when it comes to Jovic, Larsson and Fontecchio.

IN THE LANE

MEANINGFUL MOMENT: Pelle Larsson said he got more than a dinner out of Erik Spoelstra‘s visit to Sweden to watch him play in a warmup for EuroBasket. “We haven’t had much time in Miami, just the two of us, so it was great to get to know each other a little more off the [court],” the Heat 2024 second-round acquisition said. “He got to meet my family. It means they care.” Spoelstra said in his interview during the telecast of Sweden’s exhibition loss to Estonia that he could sense tangible basketball passion in Stockholm. “Just being here for the last 48 hours,” the Heat coach said, “you just see how passionate everybody is about Swedish basketball. I think only more great things are to come.”

AND ANOTHER ONE: And then there was Heat forward Nikola Jovic who played Thursday in front of Spoelstra in a Serbia exhibition victory against Slovenia in Belgrade. “I was definitely motivated,” Jovic said after his 18-point effort. “He’s one of the best coaches in the world, if not the best. He went the extra mile to come see me. I definitely want to show that I’ve improved and that I will be even better next season.” This is the third consecutive year that Spoelstra has spent offseason time with Jovic in a different country, meeting with the Heat’s 2022 first-round pick in the Philippines two years ago at the World Cup and last year in France at the Olympics.

WAITING, WATCHING: It was something Dru Smith never wanted to be first for, with the Heat guard saying it was painful to see Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton tear Achilles in the playoffs after Smith tore his last December in a regular-season game against the Brooklyn Nets. “Every time it happened, obviously it’s just tough,” Smith said. “You just hate to see guys go down. And then especially being at the point where I was, looking back and understanding they have somewhat of a tough road ahead of them, especially those first few months. Just wishing everyone the best that’s had to go through it.” Of what some consider an epidemic of Achilles tears in the NBA, Smith, newly re-signed by the Heat, said, “Hopefully it was just a one-off season, just an outlier. So I think everybody will just continue to play the game as we always have. Hopefully this is just an outlier season where a lot of them just happened to happen.”

ENEMY LINES: The just-closed $6.1 billion sale of the Boston Celtics features a somewhat familiar face from a rival city. Among those with investments in Bill Chisholm‘s purchase of the Celtics is Boston native Bruce Beal Jr., a partner at real estate giant Related Companies — as in the company founded by Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross. In the wake of previously purchasing a stake in the Dolphins that is now valued in excess of $100 million according to Forbes, Beal was listed in the ownership group of the Celtics’ takeover. In that announcement, Beal issued a statement of, “I grew up in Boston, loving the Celtics.” He added of seeing the Celtics win the 1984 NBA Finals (against the Los Angeles Lakers coached by current Heat President Pat Riley), “It was the best day ever. Fast-forward to today, it’s come full circle.”

VIDEO ROOM: If further evidence was needed about the value of encampment in the Heat’s video room, it came this past week with the announcement of Eli Kell-Abrams being named coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ G League affiliate, the Cleveland Charge. Kell-Abrams served as a Heat assistant video coordinator from 2019 to 2021 after previously serving as a video intern in 2018-19 on the staff of Erik Spoelstra, who famously made his Heat coaching entry from his role as the team’s video coordinator. Among others who have served as Heat video coordinators have been current Heat assistant Eric Glass and current Heat G League coach Dan Bisaccio. Prior to his time with the Heat, Kell-Abrams worked as a graduate assistant for the Miami Hurricanes.

NUMBER

88. The ranking of Heat center Bam Adebayo in NBA2K, two points ahead of teammate Tyler Herro, and, for reference sake, one point ahead of former Heat teammate Jimmy Butler.

Originally Published: August 21, 2025 at 2:47 PM EDT