Miami Heat SECRET WEAPON | Can Nikola Jovic TRANSFORM the Frontcourt?

Miami Heat SECRET WEAPON | Can Nikola Jovic TRANSFORM the Frontcourt?

Miami center position seems a little thin, but can Nicole Yoich be the best solution? We dive into the possibility and how Yovic could reach his potential on today’s episode of Locked on Heat. [Music] You are Locked on Heat, your daily Miami Heat podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. All right, welcome to Locked on Heat, your daily podcast on the Miami Heat. Whether you’re tuning in on YouTube or on your favorite podcast app, thanks for making Locked on Heat your first listen every day. I’m Wes Goldberg here with Dave Ramil. Both of us are credentialed Heat Media members who cover this team every day for daily content on the Heat. Join more than 17,000 Heat fans and click that subscribe button on YouTube. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can get $150 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. have a great show for you today. We’re going to talk about where the Heat’s front court ranks versus some of the other front courts in the East in a second, but I wanted to start with a question, David, that I’ve been thinking about quite a bit this off season, which is, can Nikico be Miami’s Nause Reed? And what do I mean by that? Um, you take a look at what Minnesota has done the last couple seasons in their front court rotation. Whether it was Rudy Gobear and Carl Anthony Towns or Rudy Gobear and Julius Randle last year with Nas Reed coming off the bench, Nas Reed always in the mix for six man of the year, they basically just played three three front court players at all times. And for the most part, they were interchangeable. But you know, Chris Finch, the Timberwolves head coach, basically has he starts with Gobear and last year Randall and the year before that it was Towns, but he goes Gobear or Randall. And then Nasreed comes in pretty early and will supplant either Goar or Randall. And if he’s coming in for Randall, Nasreed will play with Rudy Gobear. And if he’s playing with Randall, Nasreed will slot in at the five in place of Rudy Gobear. So Reed can kind of play the four or the five, but you go back like a couple years ago where it was Towns and it was always either Gobear or Towns with Reed kind of playing as a power forward off of them. And that’s maybe sort of that’s more of how I envision Nico because I don’t envision Nico as a five. Maybe in small ball situations in in certain matchups, but not not really like in a standard rotation. And for my Oh, go ahead. No, no, no, no. I was uh I was going to say I just you know Nico has the size here so it’s just what is it that keeps him from ever really truly developing as Miami’s as a big for Miami because I know he’s been kind of shoehorned into that spot and yet when you compare him to a player like Reed he’s clearly I mean he’s larger than Nas Reed is. I mean is it just a matter of bulk? Is it a matter of strength? Is it just the way that his his career up to this point has been played out? He’s been mostly a ball handler and I think that’s where he’s flourished the most. But it seems like for him to really grow in the NBA, it seems it’s going to have to be at either front court position. Um, well, he’s just not a good rebounder and he’s not stout enough defensively, so he’s not really a five. I know that the Heat have experimented with him at the five, like at the G-League level and stuff. I think that was more of just throwing him into the deep end and and hoping that he would just become more physical without the plan actually ever being Yeah, you might be playing center in the G-League where there basically aren’t any sevenfooters. Like people don’t realize how small the G- League is. Um versus in the NBA you’re basically be a power forward, but in Miami if you’re as long as Bam and Wear as long as they’re on the roster, you don’t really need Nico to play the five. But I think he could play the four and that’s that’s his position. Um, but for him, I just he’s he’s not a great rebounder. He’s not a rim protector. And those are kind of the two things you got to be if you’re going to be a starting level center or even a rotation center in the NBA. So, I just think his skill set is more of a of a forward than than a center. And I think that’s fine if you’re an oversized forward. I think that’s and he’s oversized only in height. Like, he’s not that big, you know? But Nas isn’t a a shot blocker either. He’s not a rim protector. That’s fair. And that’s why I think that’s kind of why I pointed out they were better when they had Cat and Gobear at the five spot with Reed always kind of playing the four. I think that’s the better Nas Reed angle. It doesn’t always seem great when it’s Nas Reed and Julius Randle in there from Minnesota. But um yeah, so I I’m kind of thinking more about like two years ago, the way that Miami’s roster is set up now. Um, so I guess you know like Nas Reed if we’re going to look for for ways in which they’re similar, he spaces the floor, right? Yoic and Reed both shot 37 are both 37% shooters for their career from three-point range. Um like uh Reed, he needs to be next to a rebounder like we were talking about. Like Nas Reed’s not in a great rebounder and he’s a little bit better than Yoic, but um Yoic averages about four rebounds per game. he just needs to be next to a real rebounder whether it’s wear who obviously needs to improve there or Bam who’s an elite rebounder um when you look at the team rebounding numbers part of it um but I guess what I I I guess maybe the more interesting part of this Reed obviously has a very high usage rate when he’s out there on the court from Minnesota they run offense through him they run a lot of offense to him and that doesn’t really seem to be the case with Nico all the time but I guess if it were to work out like can the Heat treat Yoic the same way that Minnesota treats Naz Reed? I don’t see why not. It just it doesn’t seem like there’s an element to Nico’s game that I think is missing in Reeds and that’s his ability as a playmaker. And I think that’s kind of where they don’t necessarily function to the same degree. I mean, you look at Reed’s assist numbers there, they seem pretty comparable to Yoic. And yet, I think I don’t know. I maybe Yovic is just hasn’t had the opportunity or had really the minutes. I don’t know. The statistics kind of show otherwise, right? It’s interesting then. I guess it’s just in my head without the statistical analysis to back it up. My idea of Yoic is that he’s a playmaking big and I think that’s where he would flourish the most. But you look at him and compare to what we saw from Nas Reed and maybe they could pattern his game to be similar to that as a offensive-minded center that can kind of tilt things in Miami’s favor coming off the bench or being a versatile option in conjunction with either Bam or Wear. Do you see him flourishing more alongside wear then in in this scenario or alongside Bam? Either one, right? Either one. I think I think his role would be to just play alongside one of them at all times, to never be on the court without one of them, which is essentially how Reed operates. And that’s like what you’re looking for in lineups. And we’ll we’ll touch on lineups here in a second, but you just want to accentuate the strengths of your players. You want to find the right combinations where their strengths are highlighted and their weaknesses are mitigated. But I guess with Nico, and this is less of like, can he be Nasreed? And it’s more of can he be whatever version of Miami’s Nazare Reed there is. Can Nico be that guy? And I think you hit it on the head when you said, can he just be a guy who comes off the bench and is a spark on offense, who tilts things in a different way and and just kind of creates a different tempo for Miami. And I think when Nico is at his best, and we talked about this last year when he was sort of the sixth man coming off the bench when Miami did eventually move to the to the Bam lineup, that’s what he was. And you and I talked about him after the All-Star break, potentially being the most important Heat player on the team because it just felt like every time he was getting to his game and the Heat were able to kind of play that way for a few minutes here and there, everything just elevated. and he has such a unique offensive talent. For an offense that was again in the bottom 10 in offensive rating last year, the more you can empower those kinds of guys, I think the better. Absolutely. I I think for a guy like Nico, Miami’s I I think that their ceiling can get so much higher with a player like him reaching his potential because he has that versatility because of there’s there’s so many things that you can do with a player like him. His passing is certainly great. I think his his perimeter shooting can continue to improve, but it’s such a a great weapon to have at that front court position. And there’s so many more things that you can do with a player like him, pushing that that tempo, getting them to initiate a fast break offense for a team that really struggles with fast break opportunities. It seems like Nico might be one of their best fast break options. He’s a he’s a great finisher in that regard. He’s very skilled. There’s a lot of things you could do with him and it’s just it’s almost a shame because you never really get to see him be that kind of player consistently throughout the course of the season and I I think that’s Whose fault do you think that is like where if you had to if we had to do a blame pie? No one’s because it’s really injuries. I I think look you you follow what happened last year like he struggled to start. He was he was the starter because it was a great option for him to play alongside Bam and Bio Khalil wasn’t ready to start. You had to put somebody in there alongside Bam. Jimmy was still in the starting lineup, etc. You needed that option, the versatility and and we both thought that was going to work out great, that this could be a big cog in unlocking Miami’s offense. And he struggled. Now, I don’t think that he struggled because it was the wrong fit for him. I think he just he put a lot of pressure on himself. At least that was my thinking in terms of, you know, seeing him and watching him play. It seemed like every missed shot weighed even exponentially more than it could have on him. And he just he seemed like he got more and more in his head. And then with his defensive issues, with his just inability to to finish at a high level, it just seemed like he wasn’t quite the player that he should have been. And then he got hurt and he was taken out of the lineup and he was just kind of out of the rotation virtually. And then he started playing more and once he did he was flourishing in that role and that’s when he was playing the best basketball arguably of his career and I think that’s kind of what you see from him. So I I don’t know that there’s been any one obstacle to him unlocking his potential other than some unfortunate health. Yeah. And remember he he he had the the foot injury, the ankle injury um last summer, right? when he was training overseas, he had that injury and then he came back and it was just it felt like it was it kind of set him behind a little bit from the very beginning and uh yeah, I think that that played a factor as well. I just think that Spo wants him to be more of a a rotational a heavier rotational player, but I think there’s just concerns about what he can do defensively and and he has to be able to maximize his time out there because if you’re not producing offensively and you’re not producing defensively, you’re not the kind of stopper that you expect him to. And look, I think he’s not a great defender, but I think he’s gotten better over the course of his career. He’s had flashes of being just downright impactful defensively, whether it was switching on to smaller guards on the perimeter and holding his own or the occasional weak side block or contest or something like that. For him, it’s the consistency part of it always. Whe whether it’s the shooting, the rebounding, or the defense, it’s the consistency. Uh, and that’s the thing that Eric Spolster was talking about with us in Vegas about how he’s just been blown away with what he’s seen from Nico lately. So, you just hope that we start seeing some of that stuff unfold on the court. Now, we got a little bit more to carve into here. What’s the best use of Nico in Miami system? Does that mean starting or coming off the bench? What position is Nikico? And why a new addition might be the ideal player for him to play with? We’ll talk about all of that next here on Locked on Heat. been better off asking this a little bit earlier, David, but is Nicolovic even a power forward? Because I think there’s a debate among Heat fans about whether or not he’s a power forward or a small forward or a point guard or or a center or whatever he is. I tend to think the hell with your positions. Play him at power forward and if he’s bringing the ball up as a point forward, that’s fine. We don’t have to make him the quote unquote point guard. I don’t think that that actually has any significance whatsoever. And defensively, he’s definitely not guarding point guards. So, you got to have some guard. You have to have smaller guards out there anyway when he’s out there on the court. It’s not like you’re literally going to play Nico out there at 610, 611 with a bunch of other 67, 68, 69, 610, 7 foot guys. Um, so I tend to think that his his best position is power forward because that’s actually how you maximize his versatility to the point where it’s an actual advantage because most players his size don’t have the ball skills that he has. Yeah, I think so. I think the three or four honestly um I think he could fill either position pretty well there. But I guess it all depends on what players you’d have surrounding him. I don’t know if you want to jump into that option right now, but for a guy like him, again, you’re looking specifically what his strengths are, three-point shooting, ball handling, pushing pace, etc. So, more of an offensive player certainly. Um, but then you need somebody who’s more of a defensive anchor playing alongside him. Bam. Where I guess if you want to look at him that way. So, if you are looking at the right lineup combination to maximize what Nico can do, it might be playing him at the three. I still think that’s a good option if you have him at the three alongside Bam where potentially. I mean, and maybe it’s just something to consider if Wiggins is traded or something along those lines, but I don’t know. I don’t know if that’s the right movie. It might be what if it was a combination of DaVon Mitchell and either Hero or Powell in that starting back court then and then you have Nico alongside too. Is that the best lineup? Would it be Hero and Powell? It’s an interesting lineup. Yeah, because I think that’s where you’ll have their best balance. Now, that’s not to say that that has to be your starting lineup. It could be not necessarily a closing lineup either, but maybe something that gets inserted at some point where you have the that combination of players there because I I think that brings a good balance in what you’re looking for. I I think the main point there is that you have to play him next to a rim protector. You don’t want to go so small that Nico’s your five. Now, whether he’s your four, your three, whatever, I think he’s best at the four. I’d rather put more shooting out there on the floor, whatever. And I think, by the way, I think Miami is deep enough one through three that you don’t really have to play Nico there. And if Miami is shallow anywhere, it’s at those big man spots. Like, I like Bam. I like where I like Nico. There’s not much after that that I like on the roster. So, you kind of have to split up those 40 like uh Well, it’s more than 48 minutes. It’s uh what’s 48* 2? 96. Yeah, you have 96 minutes at the four and the five that you got to fill. I don’t know that you can afford to play Nico anywhere other than power forward because like if you do then who’s how you filling in those other minutes in those other spots uh throughout the game. So that would be my one concern there unless you’re just you’re going from really big to really small with somebody like Haime or Haywood at the four and other minutes. But and maybe that’s a strategy that Spo goes to. But generally speaking, um the idea of who you play Nico with to me is interesting because if you’re looking at what’s Miami’s best use of Nico in their system, regardless of the position, again unimportant to me, it’s who he’s playing with and how you’re maximizing his skills. I think Nico is interesting enough as a player and we’re in year four of this now where we got to figure out is this guy a core piece or not. Not just because he’s going to be restricted free agent next summer, but also a really big deal is that he’s going to be a restricted free agent next summer. Like you got to figure this out. Uh as long as he doesn’t sign an extension before next before this upcoming season. So um to me, I want him handling the ball. I want him but not all the time because I also want him to help space. I want him to help space next to guys like Bam and wear and create uh from if he’s in the corner create openings in the middle for them. I love when they get to that high low action with Nico and Wear or Nico and Bam to me that’s really fun and really interesting and a mismatch nightmare for a lot of teams. So leaning into all those things that he can do and playing fast obviously also. So I want him playing with a big man. I also want him playing with guys who will allow him to handle the ball quite a bit and cut off of the ball. And if I think about Miami’s best cutters, I’m thinking Yakonis who’s already a very advanced cutter at his as a rookie, Pel Larson, who’s obviously an awesome cutter, and Hayaka Jr. who just all he does is eat up space. Yeah. And I’m playing I want Nico playing with those guys a lot. So let’s assume then your starting lineup is as we’ve talked before hero Powell Wiggins Bam where then you take out Bam early on as his normal substitution pattern. Nico comes in there ostensibly at the four to play alongside wear. You leave Wiggins in there maybe bring in Mitchell DaVon Mitchell for either hero or Powell and then that’s your kind of combination right there. There’s Mitchell plus other scoring guard. Wiggins still in there, but eventually Wiggins comes out. Then you bring Haime in there for a little balance or Pella. Pella could come in there as a two-3 also. So that kind of that’s your balance there. Again, by that point, you can take wear out as well. Nico can play extended minutes if he’s out of foul trouble and you can put Bam in there. It’s a It seems like that’s a good way of kind of blending those minutes, getting the right mix of players out there and still, you know what, Miami just has they have depth. It just it it all has to work in a way that it hasn’t up to this point, you know, because you don’t have that superstar talent. So, you’re maxim you’re trying to depend too much on your depth and and unfortunately Miami’s depth with the exception perhaps of Nico is is just hasn’t reached their full potential yet. They haven’t done anything where they excel and bring some kind of punch to this team and and you just you have to be able to play these combinations in order to find an effective blend of players. Mhm. But I wonder if this could be the year where we finally see that pop cuz I just to me you have all this glut of players and none of them really are great and yet I I I still in my head I keep envisioning this group and it just seems like you have so many different options. You do have a lot of different players they’ve had in a really long time. It doesn’t have the Jimmy Butler piece at the top, but I can’t recall. I’m looking at this rotation. I got 11 guys, maybe 12, who I would like to see play every single night. And that’s hard to do. Now, we saw teams like Cleveland and Golden State do that early in the season. And Golden State ended up making a consolidation trade. Obviously, we remember that one. Um, Cleveland ended up whitt willing down their their rotation quite a bit, but that was not an easy decision for them to do. Yeah. But, um, I I think Miami could be right there playing like why not play 11 or 12 guys? I think you’re seeing in today’s NBA depth really counts, especially in the regular season where you’re trying to stay as fresh as possible. That stuff really does result in more wins, right? Especially when we’re talking about backtobacks and long road trips and stuff like that. keeping guys fresh and letting guys like Nico just maybe he’s not playing 30 minutes a night, maybe he’s playing 22, but because of how deep the roster is. When he’s out there for those 22 minutes, he’s going hard, right? Like he’s just leaving it all out there for 22 minutes and then he’s coming off and somebody else is going in there and playing really hard for eight straight minutes. And that’s sort of how you’re dealing with your rotation. And that’s how your offense gets better and more um decisive and the ball movement’s better. is how your defense gets better because you have more energy and all those things. But, um, yeah, I I I think they’re really deep. I think they are. I I think they’re and they’re actually starting to be really a like like actually versatile and not just talking about being versatile. Like there might actually be real versatility on this roster for the first time in a long time. But, um, let’s move on. The Heat’s front court might be an underrated strength next season. and we’re going to talk about where it ranks among the best in the East after this. So, David, in the NFL, we talk a lot about like the room, right? You have the quarterback room, the running back room, the defensive back room, the linebacker room. And I kind of want to apply that to basketball here and just talk about Miami’s front court in terms of like a front court room. And to me, the three guys in that room are Bam, Kell, and Nico. Sure. And Vlad Golden when he’s not in Sou Falls, I suppose. I guess he’s in there, too. Um, and that’s really it, right? Like Kashad Johnson maybe is part of that room, but in terms of the guys that we think are playing every single night, it’s Kell, it’s Bam, it’s Nico. That’s the room. That’s your three-man front court rotation. So, I was thinking about, okay, I I kind of like all three of those guys. Where do they rank in the Eastern Conference as a three-man front court rotation? If they end up doing the thing that we’ve been talking about in terms of, hey, you’re start you’re probably starting Bam and wear Nico’s coming off, he’s playing with Bam or Wear or really, however you’re doing it, but those guys are all sort of playing together, mixing and matching in different lineups. Where does that threeman front court rotation rank in the East? So, with I’m going to just list you a few of the the top ones that I was thinking about. So you got Miami, Bam, Yoic, Cleveland, we got to talk about them. Evan Mobley, Jared Allen. I guess the third guy would be Dean Wade. Yeah. The Knicks with Towns, Mitchell Robinson, and OG Anobi. And I this is not in any particular order. Uh Milwaukee. Yeah, you’re thinking Giannis now. Miles Turner, Bobby Portoris. That’s pretty good. Yeah, maybe Koozma is a factor in there also depending on where they’re going to play him. Orlando, I’m thinking you got Wendell Carter Jr., Paulo Beno, Jonathan Isaac, I think would be the top three, right? Yeah. Yeah. Would you go Mo Vagner over Isaac maybe? Um Detroit, I’m going Jaylen Duran, Tobias Harris, Isaiah Stewart. That one’s pretty good, too. Yeah, but I look at Miami and I think that’s right there at the top of the ones that we were talking about. What do you think? Philadelphia, the top, I should say. Philly with Embiid and that’s it, right? Under Drummond. Okay. Like they don’t have a power forward on the roster. So, I couldn’t I didn’t really know what to do with them. Paul George, your power forward. That That’s your power forward when he’s healthy. He’s hurt again. He just had another surgery. I don’t know who. I I have no idea who’s playing power forward for Philly. So, I just I looked at it. I really did. I was like, “This is too confusing.” So, eighth maybe in the East, seventh, eighth. You think Miami’s front court is seventh or eighth? Yeah. I mean, that’s what we’re looking at here. So, you put them behind all of them? All those teams that we just listed? Yeah. Uh just the front court rotation, not the team, not in the standings. Cleveland, Milwaukee, you have those as better front court rotations than what Miami has in Orlando, I think, are better. Really? Maybe Detroit as well. Yeah, I would say so. I would say so. I mean, Po kind of tips the edge in Orlando’s favor. I mean, yeah, better than Bam. I guess you would still consider Wendell Cart. Yeah, you’re probably right. Milwaukee has to be the top just because they have Giannis and I like Miles Turner, but like Jiannis, I don’t know about that. I mean, over over Cleveland, I mean, maybe their third option if it’s Wade is not the best, but I mean, Allen and Moy are two all-star level players. That’s fair. So, like Milwaukee/ Cleveland, New York top, I guess. I guess you’d have New York. Although with New York, you you have injury questions with Anobi and Mitchell Robinson. Okay. And if one of those guys are out, Towns just is such a defensive liability. Yeah. That it becomes a real issue. So I would almost I kind of think Miami is closer to the Knicks. I think it’s better than Detroit. I think it’s better than Detroit. Yeah. Stewart and Harris. You have Bam. Stewart. Be Stewart. Bam. You have Bam. Forget it. Like those guy. None of those guys even come close to Bam. No. So, yeah, I think that’s I think that’s right. I think it’s like Milwaukee and Cleveland at the top somewhere in whatever order. Yeah. And then it’s probably like Miami, New York, and Orlando in a in a tier below those guys. That’s fair. That’s fair. Yeah. A lot of it depends on where though. Like I I mean, yep. right now to me he he’s even still after what we saw from him last year and there were bright spots obviously but you he has to become more of a legitimate force more like what we saw in the last couple games that he played in Las Vegas rather than the first couple games that he played in summer league I I think if he can be that consistent and and be a presence down low continue to be able to be an effective vertical threat the occasional three-point got certainly a higher level of defense, solid rebounding numbers because I don’t I don’t think he’ll ever be a I don’t know. He he could have the potential to be a decent rebounder, but I mean I just just put up some basic numbers with that size with that size and catch radius. He should be a 10 rebounder guy, a night guy. Yeah, I know. We don’t know if he will be to your point. No. So, if he can become that in the best version of uh in in year two, if he can have that same level of engagement and motivation that we saw from him uh during the second half of Vegas, I think that bodess well for what he can bring to the table. And then between him and Bam, that might be closer to Cleveland than it would be to say, you know, Orlando or New York. Right. Right. Because we know what Bam can do and he needs to have another big gear. He needs to have somewhat of a bounceback gear here too. But also Nico, you know, like the guy played 46 games the last two years, 15 games as like he needs to be out there. Like being availability is the most important ability, right? Like he needs to be out there. And so if he’s out there, it creates that flexibility that we’ve been talking about. And if he’s not available, even if you have a big secondyear leap from Kell and a bounceback year from BAM, who’s the other guy in that room? It’s you end up in a Caleb Martin situation all over again where it’s like, hey, I’m sorry, you got to guard fours. Haime, I’m sorry, you got to guard fours. Kashad, I’m sorry, you have to play. Like it it gets really thin really quick if Nico is not available or effective. And that that would be maybe the part that I’m worried about, but it’s why I think Nico has to have a really big year, too. We talked about Vlad Golden last week, but even as the team draws near to training camp, do you think they look at any other available centers and try to fill the position that way just to bring in a fourth body that kind of might be a little more legitimate sized player and and not necessarily somebody like Golden who might not be ready. I I I think there’s the cost to consider and unfortunately that is the nature of the basketball side of things is that you can keep a player like Golden significantly cheaper than bringing in a veteran minimum contract. But if you were Miami, do you think that maybe adding another name on there regardless of who that name might be might be a better option than having to rely on Golden and whoever’s left on the roster? I’m on the record saying you need another body out there. I mean, I think it’s crazy that they’re going into this season, or at least it looks like they’re going into the season without another veteran big center. Yeah. Somewhere center, forward, just some a body. Somebody who’s 69. Just throw somebody out there with actual NBA experience and and doesn’t have to not a part of your rotation. A break glass in case essentially to replace Kevin Love. I mean, that’s what we’re really talking about. Yes. Exactly. and not a guy who’s going to be part of your every night rotation, but just a guy that you needed. Every every team needs those guys. It to me, it’s crazy that they don’t have them. But maybe they really think that highly of Golden or maybe they have an idea of, hey, well, we’re going to make some sort of roster payroll cutting move here pretty soon before the season starts. And at that point, maybe we’ll just go out and grab a guy or whatever it is. But, uh, I’m on record saying they need to add somebody, but I have no indication that they are going to do that. So, we’ll see. Um, so yeah, I thought that was fun. Um, Nikolovic, big year hopefully coming for him. Um, and some interesting lineups that can come from it. That’ll do it for us today. Thanks for making Lockdown Heat your first listen today. For your second listen, find the Locked on NBA podcast where there is no offseason. Doug Batton Hayes keep you up to date on contract negotiations, rumors, and everything you need to be the most informed NBA fan. Find Locked on NBA YouTube and wherever you listen to podcast. In case you missed it, our first episode this week, we broke down which players in the Miami Heat might crack the Lockdown Podcast Network’s top 100 rankings. You’re not going to want to miss that episode. It went up a little bit later on Monday afternoon, a little bit later than we usually like to get these episodes out, so you might have missed it. So, check that out over there. Plus, our news episode on a couple of players that the Heat added to the roster. Thanks for making Lockdown Heat your first listen, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

Miami Heat’s frontcourt puzzle: Can Nikola Jovic be the missing piece?

Wes Goldberg and David Ramil dissect the Miami Heat’s evolving frontcourt strategy, focusing on Nikola Jovic’s potential breakout. They analyze how Jovic could complement Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware, exploring lineup combinations that maximize the team’s strengths. Then they the Heat’s frontcourt against Eastern Conference rivals and debate the need for additional veteran depth at center.

0:00 Intro
1:30 Can Nikola Jovic be Miami’s Naz Reid?
13:08 Debating Jovic’s best position on the court
18:15 Potential lineup combinations with Jovic
22:23 Ranking Miami’s frontcourt in the Eastern Conference
29:38 Should Heat add another veteran center?

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