Miami Heat: Unheralded Guy To Be Most Excited About – Eric’s Pick
This one is easy and to be honest, it is for the most shallow of reasons that come from the deepest places of fandom.
Eric’s Pick (@FrittsWrites): Nikola Jovic
The hype around this kid, let’s be honest, is for two main reasons. That would be his name and his country of origin.
His name, Nikola Jovic, is nearly homonymous with the two-time MVP and he is from the same place in this gigantic world, Serbia. With Giannis Antentekoumpo and Nikola Jokic’s MVPs, along with Luka Doncic being another perennial favorite for the award at some point in the near future, there is a good deal of Euro hype happening around the world of basketball and the NBA is not immune.
Giannis and Jokic are the biggest impetus behind this because of their stories. Milwaukee and Denver took chances on these guys by drafting them late with limited information.
It’s similar to what happened with the Miami Heat and Jovic. He was picked at 27th in the first round.
That’s right in the middle of between where Giannis and Jokic were scooped up. This isn’t insinuating that there’s a direct correlation but I would be willing to wager that Miami might not have picked him up in the first round had the last four MVPs awards not gone to Euros.
The hype might or might not be real, but all this around him makes Jovic an unlikely guy I want to see succeed. That’s why he’s the pick here.
Any or none of these guys could pop, though the hope is that they all do. In any event, it’ll be exciting watching it all play out!