Nikola Jovic breakout is finally incoming if former front office exec is right
The Miami Heat has seen both the good and bad from Nikola Jovic to start the season, but he continues to get love as a player who is primed for a breakout year. And if one former front office executive is proven right, Jovic will end up being one of the few young players who will truly hit his stride this season.
According to John Hollinger, Jovic was listed as one of his 10 breakout players from this season. In the same conversation as Bennedict Mathurin, Matas Buzelis, and others, Jovic finds himself in great company.
Jovic will have to prove it, though, and his performance has been pretty up and down to start the year for the Heat.
Considering his consistency (and availability) has always been an issue, it's certainly something to keep monitoring as we get deeper into the season. Through three games, Jovic is averaging 12 points, five rebounds, and three assists per game on 46 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent shooting from 3-point range.
However, he's had only one game truly worthy to be labeled as a "breakout" performance. That came against the Memphis Grizzlies, in which Jovic finished with 20 points, six rebounds, and four assists. But if you remove that game, Jovic is only averaging seven points and four rebounds on 31 percent shooting from the field.
Nikola Jovic should feast against second units
There's no question that if Jovic is going to live up to the expectations of a breakout player this year, he needs to be more consistent. Add in the fact that Jovic is likely going to play the bulk of his minutes (coming off the bench) against opposing teams' second units, and there isn't much of an excuse for him.
After starting on opening night, there's an expectation that Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is going to stick with the starting frontcourt duo of Bam Adebayo and Kel'el Ware moving forward.
That means Jovic is likely going to remain in his role of coming off the bench for the foreseeable future. In such a role, Jovic should be feasting. He has the green light as soon as he enters the game, and should be relied on heavily as one of the team's most talented players on the second unit.
The Heat have gotten off to a somewhat surprisingly good start to the year, but if Jovic is able to put together the breakout year that many are predicting, this already altered ceiling for the Heat is only naturally going to rise even higher.
Detroit Lions missing 3 players from practice, but get a handful of others back
ALLEN PARK -- In the first practice open to reporters after the bye week, the Detroit Lions were missing four players but got a handful of others back.
Those back at practice were safety Daniel Thomas, linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez, defensive back Avonte Maddox and running back Sione Vaki. Thomas (forearm) and Rodriguez (knee) had their 21-day return windows opened this week on the road to returning to action. Both defenders remain on injured lists and have the next two-plus weeks of practice to get activated.
Vaki has been out for the last month-plus, but the Lions hope to get him ready to go against the Minnesota Vikings this weekend. Maddox has missed the last two games due to a hamstring injury. His return would boost the nickelback and safety depth.
The Lions also saw the return of safety Brian Branch from his suspension on Tuesday. Cornerback Terrion Arnold was back at practice as expected after returning for one session last week. Arnold has missed two games with his re-aggravated shoulder injury.
They were missing All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph (knee), running back Craig Reynolds (hamstring) and pass rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad (undisclosed). Taylor Decker was not initially spotted by reporters during the open window. But the veteran left tackle was at Tuesday’s practice.
Decker is also expected back at practice to end the week, too. The Lions are off on Wednesday, so they plan to work him back into action after more time to rehab and get ready. Decker was back in the starting lineup before the bye week on Monday night after missing two straight games. At this point, he is no stranger to playing despite limited practice reps.
It’s not clear what’s going on with Muhammad. He wasn’t listed with an injury coming out of the win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, so we’ll know more when the team releases the official practice report later this afternoon.
Joseph didn’t play in the game heading into the bye week as the Lions tried to get him and his injured knee extra time to heal. The safety has been dealing with knee issues dating back to training camp, and his missed game against the Bucs was his lone absence of the campaign. Dan Campbell and Joseph were confident the bye week would do the safety a lot of good. Now, it’s just about getting him back on the practice field to see how he feels before Sunday.
The safety has three interceptions through seven games despite the lingering knee injury. Jim O’Neill, the team’s safeties coach and a defensive assistant, credited Joseph for the dedication he’s shown to work through the issue and try to get it right.
“He’s working coaches’ hours because he’s here early in the morning getting treatment,“ O’Neill said. ”He’s in the meeting rooms after getting treatment. He’s doing everything. I know last week he spent the whole week, you know, taking care of himself and doing some things out on his own.
“Just how he’s attacked it professionally, and how he’s helped some of the young guys that have come in, too ... But when he goes, I haven’t seen a drop. I think he’s been the same Kerby that we’re all used to seeing. I’m sure there are a few plays this year that he would like to have back. You know what I mean? But that’s with everybody.”
Reynolds (hamstring) and cornerback D.J. Reed were spotted working to the side with trainers. Reed still has one game left to serve for his minimum stay on injured reserve before he can return to practice.
