The Miami Heat may be slowly realizing that Nikola Jovic might not be as valuable in the NBA as he is on the international stage. To be quite honest, it's probably something they should've realized earlier, and certainly before giving him a hefty contract extension last month.
Through the first month of the season, Jovic has had a pretty forgetful start. He hasn't looked comfortable at all this year, with probably the exception of a handful of games, and he just logged his first DNP-CD of the year.
In other words, after coming back from injury, he found himself on the outside looking in of head coach Erik Spoelstra's rotation. It could've been Spo just playing it safe with Jovic's return, and giving him more time to get back to full health, but it's certainly not an encouraging sign.
The Heat may have made a big misstep with Nikola Jovic
At this point, you can't help but wonder if some in the front office are already regretting the decision to give him the contract extension before the start of the season.
After such a strong summer for Team Serbia in the EuroBasket Tournament, it's only natural to suggest that perhaps Jovic has much more value on the international stage than he does in the NBA. After all, a big reason why the Heat gave Jovic the extension before the start of the season was because of how impressive he looked during the summer for Team Serbia.
It wasn't the only reason, but you'd assume that it did play a big role in their decision-making.
The Heat expected Jovic to carry that offseason momentum into the start of the season, and that simply hasn't happened. In fact, the argument could be made that the opposite has transpired instead.
This is not to say that Jovic still can't make that leap in his development that the team was expecting (or hoping) he could make this year, but it would be much more surprising after his underwhelming start to this season.
In the worst way possible, the Heat may be slowly realizing that they may have acted rashly in handing Jovic an extension before the season. And if something doesn't shift with his play soon, the proof will be even more obvious than ever.
That Jovic may not be as valuable as the Heat believed he'd be in terms of the long-term team blueprint. If this is indeed the case, Miami may have made a massive mistake.