Boca Raton, FL – With the Miami Heat almost back in action, as a new era is on the horizon led by star newcomer Giannis Antetokounmpo, it will also be a pivotal season for some on the roster who are looking to improve. As the Heat started training camp on Tuesday morning, one player who spoke about their important summer was Nikola Jovic.

The 23-year-old forward has been with Miami for the last four seasons and has been considered a key part of the young core, though the results have been mixed. While the talent as a six-foot-10-inch spacing forward is there, last season was a particularly frustrating one for the Serbian-born player.

Heat's Nikola Jovic on ‘growing up'

Averaging 7.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 36.6 percent from the field and 26.9 percent from deep in 47 games, Jovic had trouble adjusting to the Heat's fast offense from last season, which led the league in pace. Injuries were also a factor in the frustration, dealing with hip, back, ankle, and elbow injuries throughout the year, though Jovic wouldn't blame those issues on his down season, as he told ClutchPoints Monday.

Nikola Jovic speaking at media day about looking to bounce back, if he still feels he can fit in the offensive system, plus I asked him about his health from last season. #Heat pic.twitter.com/qB18wMwL2t

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) September 28, 2026

His offseason consisted of Jovic having a mental reset, admitting that he had a problem with getting irate easily when situations wouldn't go his way on the court, emphasizing that he “had to grow up.”

“How to know, not act. How to act. Little stuff like that,” Jovic said Tuesday at Florida Atlantic University. “More on the mental game part too. You know, I think that's really important. Where I felt like everybody was against me and stuff. You know, I was thinking the wrong way last year. You know, I had to grow up a little bit. I know I had to be a man, and I had to take action for myself and stuff like that.”

Heat's Nikola Jovic on welcoming the pressure for this season

Jovic expressed being in a “good place” heading into this season, and with the pressure building on him to have a breakout season this year, amidst signing a four-year, $62.4 million contract extension in October of 2025, he welcomes it.

“No, I like pressure. I love pressure,” Jovic said to ClutchPoints. “I think pressure is what makes diamonds, as they say. And pressure gets the best out of everybody, or the worst. So if you want to be the best, we need some pressure for sure, and I think that's where we're gonna try this year because people are gonna be looking, and we have big names now, and people gonna be watching, and we're gonna need that pressure if we want to win.”

“I felt like I just had to get my shot right again, you know,” Jovic continued to ClutchPoints on whether there's an aspect he wants to improve upon. “Not that it went away or something like that. My shooting numbers during the practices, everything looked good. Just it wasn't looking great in the games, and just making sure I'm back at shooting over 36, 37 percent [from three-point range], which I'm kind of always used to.”

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One aspect of his game that Jovic mentioned improving on was the quickness of his shot, as it remains to be seen how that'll come to affect this season.

Heat's Erik Spoelstra on Nikola Jovic showing “accountability”

Like fellow Heat teammate Pelle Larsson with Sweden, Jovic would represent his country of Serbia during the summer in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers for the 2027 event, and what showed was considerable improvement. Averaging 20 points and shooting 66.7 percent from the field and 52.6 percent from three-point range in the four games, he garnered the attention of head coach Erik Spoelstra, who also mentioned the importance of Jovic showing “accountability” for his emotions.

“He has so much versatility. I'm encouraged by what he did this summer. He checked the boxes that I wanted him to check, and I think he's going to have a very good training camp. He was terrific in the qualifying games for Serbia, now he's been a part of that winning program for several years, and I think that matters. He's still a young player, so even though at times it feels like I have no patience for that growth. I'm able to step back and think about his progress,” Spoelstra said.

“When it inevitably doesn't go necessarily how he wants it to go, it's okay. It's really about the response,” Spoelstra continued. “It doesn't have to be end-of-the-world body language if you miss a couple shots or make a play that he wants to take back, he really cares. But we all make mistakes. I make mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes. It's about showing the resiliency to be able to get back into the fight and make the next play.”

At any rate, Jovic looks to improve during the rest of training camp this week ahead of the preseason opener on Saturday against the Toronto Raptors.