Nikola Jovic rolling with his Heat reality, ‘Either I start or I don’t play. It’s wild’

MIAMI — As he sat on the bench during pregame warmups last week in Milwaukee, 6-foot-10 Nikola Jovic let on what was about to transpire, while also finding irony in the situation.

“The wild thing,” the 20-year-old Miami Heat big man said, “is either I start or I don’t play. It’s wild.”

Earlier, Jovic had been told by Heat coach Erik Spoelstra that this would be one of the nights he would start, with Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier and Josh Richardson all sidelined that game at Fiserv Forum and with Spoelstra needing more length against the Bucks’ 7-1 Brook Lopez and 6-11 Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Hours later, the Heat’s 2022 first-round pick out of Serbia would steal into the night after scoring a career-high 24 points in a 26-point Heat blowout victory. Jovic also would start the following night, when the Heat won on the road against the Philadelphia 76ers, the victory that carried the Heat into this eight-day All-Star break.

Prior to that game in Milwaukee, Jovic had been held out of six of the previous seven. And when the Heat resume their schedule with a four-game trip that opens Friday against the New Orleans Pelicans, it well could be that Jovic again will be moved out of view.

Four months shy of being able to legally be served his first drink in Florida, Jovic accepts the ride as part of his NBA growth curve, and not necessarily as growing pains.

Such wild fluctuations in rotation roles might drive others to distraction. With plenty of time to yet gain NBA footing, Jovic is taking it as it comes.

“I love it,” he said with a smile that indicated he actually just might. “I get to learn and I need to be ready when I get a chance. I’m working hard like I always do. I feel like everybody sees the improvement.

“I mean I want to play. Playing is the most important thing. But I feel like as long as they believe in me and I believe in them, it’s going to work out.”

Already this season there have been 14 starts and 364 minutes played, with 27 games to go, compared to eight starts and 204 minutes during a rookie season limited by a back issue.

And with the Heat remaining committed to his development, the games designated as Did Not Play — Coach’s Decision hardly have meant nights off.

“I feel like I’m working a lot, especially the last month, last two or three months,” Jovic said, of what the Heat term pre-practice. “Before every shootaround, before every practice, I’m there working out.

“There’s no off days for me. When they have an off day, it’s an on day for me.”

At home games, Jovic often remains out of view when not in the rotation, not dodging postgame questions, but rather going through a full late-night shooting cycle on the practice court.

“When we finish the games,” he said, “I’m going to get some shots up on the practice court. I always want to feel like I’m putting something into practice. My job is to improve and show everybody I can play.”

Which he showed to Bucks coach Doc Rivers in that victory in Milwaukee.

Which he showed to himself when he returned to the starting lineup.

“I learned that I for sure got a lot better than I was before,” he said of the recent staring opportunities. “I learned that I’m for sure able to play and I’m ready to play.”

Had his landing spot at No. 27 come elsewhere, the slow go might have been fast tracked.

But there also is an appreciation that his Heat learning curve is coming in games with meaning, the latest two starts, the victories in Milwaukee and Philadelphia the latest examples.

“We’re contenders and it can be hard to play in an organization where all they do is want to win,” he said of his limited opportunities. “But that’s all I want to do is win. Like I said, at one point there’ll be more chances, and at one point I feel like I’ll be able to be constantly in the rotation.”