Miami Heat’s Nikola Jovic Talks About Being a Diverse Player

The Heat’s first round pick had a lot to say in his introductory press conference.

During the Miami Heat's Big Three Era of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, the team invented the phrase, "positionless." 

It was used to describe their want for versatile players, which is why this year's first-round draft pick should fit right in. 

“I consider myself positionless,” Heat rookie Nikola Jovic said during his opening press conference. “I think I can play multiple positions.” 

Jovic averaged 11.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists while playing in Serbia. He said facing different defensive coverages improved his scheming as an offensive player.

“I think it helped me a lot,” Jovic said. “Playing pick-and-roll throughout the year, I played in a really tough league against some really rough guys. They’re really physical. From pick-and-roll I can do a lot of things and I showed I can do a lot of things.”

Jovic credits Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic and Jimmy Butler as being players he models his game after.

“I watch a little bit of everyone,” Jovic stated. “If it’s Luka Doncic, pick-and-roll; if it’s Nikola Jokic, low-post game; if it’s Jimmy Butler, defense. Something from everyone.”

Pat Riley said he was impressed with the completeness of Jovic.

“I think the overall skillset,” Riley said. “When you talk about a player being a complete player, that’s what we’re talking about. How good is that completeness will come with development. What is a complete player, someone who can pass, who can dribble, someone who can run pick-and-rolls and shoot the ball.”

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Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.