Nikola Jović has his new deal.
Jović, after a career run with the Miami Heat last season, reached a four-year, $62.4 million extension with the franchise on Wednesday afternoon, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. The deal will keep him with the Heat through the end of the 2029-30 campaign.
Jović was set to enter the final year of his initial four-year rookie contract with the team this fall, and he would have been a restricted free agent next summer.
The Heat first selected Jović with the No. 27 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. He’s slowly played his way into a bigger role with the Heat each season, and he put up a career-high 10.7 points last season. He averaged 3.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game, too, while playing just more than 25 minutes per game largely off the bench. Jović also participated in the EuroBasket tournament this past summer with Serbia, where he averaged 12.8 points and four rebounds per game.
Jović and the Heat went just 37-45 last season, marking their first losing record since the 2018-19 campaign. They still made the playoffs for a sixth straight season, but they were swept in the opening round.
Though the Heat lost several pieces from last year’s team, including Duncan Robinson and veteran Kevin Love, they did bring in Norm Powell in a three-team trade in July. They selected guard Kasparas Jakučionis with the No. 20 overall pick in the draft earlier this summer out of Illinois.
The Heat will open the season on Oct. 22 against the Orlando Magic. Though he may not be ready to crack the starting lineup just yet, Jović has more then proven himself as a great asset off the bench and has only improved. Securing him for years to come should only benefit the Heat down the road.
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