{"id":174254,"date":"2025-08-25T11:58:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T11:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/174254\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T11:58:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T11:58:12","slug":"should-nikola-jovic-extension-be-addressed-by-miami-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/174254\/","title":{"rendered":"Should Nikola Jovic extension be addressed by Miami Heat?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Q: Free Nikola Jovic. If I\u2019m the Heat I give Nikola Jovic a four-year deal while he\u2019s still cheap, too. \u2013 Swann.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: It is interesting that for all the speculation about Tyler Herro\u2019s extension window in October, that there has been little discussion about a Nikola Jovic extension window<\/a> that already is open. While at one point maximizing cap space for next summer appeared a priority, that no longer appears to be quite the case, with the 2026 free-agency list hardly overwhelming. But there also is something to be said about encouraging a prove-it season. The Athletic\u2019s John Hollinger, the former NBA executive, suggested a four-year deal, in the $50 million to $60 million range. Considering Niko would have a $13.3 million cap hold as a restricted free agent next summer without an extension, it\u2019s not as if an extension number at that slot would significantly impact cap space. So perhaps an extension becomes a sooner-rather-than-later move by the front office.<\/p>\n

Q: Ira, I actually like what the Heat are doing<\/a>. Get the house in order and play this season for your youth and take stock and see what happens. Best-case scenario, our youth takes a step up and we finish sixth in the standings and it gives us a fight in the playoffs. Worst-case scenario we are a lottery team and find ourselves potentially with a top-10 pick. But we are also collecting good, tradable pieces for a potential franchise superstar. I can actually see what the plan is and I see upside with all possible outcomes. Not compromising flexibility this year was a great move. I can see the Heat now taking the right approach. \u2013 Jerry, Miami.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Actually we only will see that when the youth gets to play at the moments of truth. But, to your point, it\u2019s not as if Erik Spoelstra will have many alternatives, no longer with as many veterans to turn to at those moments of truth, without Kevin Love, Kyle Anderson, even Haywood Highsmith or Duncan Robinson.<\/p>\n

Q: We have not been able to land the \u201cBig One\u201d since Jimmy Butler, if you even consider him that. Isn\u2019t it because the rest of the league does not value the Heat assets that they are willing to trade as highly as the Heat front office does? Not to mention the availability of valuable trade selections that we have given away. So as a lifetime Heat fan and supporter, I find myself at the beginning of the start of another season hoping they can be better than a play-in team. Forget championships. Pretty sad? \u2013 Bob, Davie.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Or just being realistic. I\u2019m not sure how anyone can look at this roster and think \u201ccontender.\u201d As you mention, this is a time for the Heat to create value with their assets. As for draft capital, to their credit only one first-round pick remains outstanding elsewhere (to the Hornets in \u201927 or \u201928). So you also can look at it as things looking up, even if not looking at the top at the moment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Q: Free Nikola Jovic. If I\u2019m the Heat I give Nikola Jovic a four-year deal while he\u2019s still…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":174255,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[99200,1370,3120,99201,1260,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-174254","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-ask-ira","9":"tag-latest-headlines","10":"tag-miami-heat","11":"tag-miami-heat-blog","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115089297445691949","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}