Nikola Jovic's Olympic injury could impact Miami Heat season

Nikola Jovic will likely miss the Olympic Games in Paris this month with an ankle injury, according to European media outlets. The Miami Heat can only hope that the injury doesn’t impact his start to the NBA season.

Jovic appeared at the start of camp for the Serbian national team in a walking boot but wasn’t immediately excluded from the roster, as he was expected to be part of Serbia’s power rotation following a strong second NBA season.

According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Jovic was injured when he took a misstep on a defensive closeout drill at Kaseya Center last month. The Heat’s medical staff has defined the injury as a metatarsal sprain, with no timeline on his recovery.

Whether Jovic can participate in the Olympics will be decided by the Serbian national team, not the Heat, according to the Sentinel.

Jovic was held out of Serbia’s first Olympic warmup game and was removed from his country’s traveling party for the rest of their exhibitions in Abu Dhabi ahead of the Paris Games later this month. He will remain in Belgrade for the time to recover.

For the Heat, the concern now is that Jovic could miss the start of training camp or the NBA season.

The 27th pick in the 2022 draft, Jovic played well in his second season, emerging as Miami’s starting power forward by the time the Heat made the playoffs. He averaged 7.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2 assists in 19.5 minutes. If healthy, Jovic is expected to remain Miami’s starting power forward next season.

If Jovic isn’t ready to start the season, the Heat would likely choose between starting the smaller Haywood Highsmith or going with a bigger lineup featuring Bam Adebayo alongside another center, either Kevin Love or Kel’el Ware, in the starting lineup.