Inside The Heat

Miami Heat Social Media Reaction: Nikola Jovic's Fan Base Growing By The Day

Miami Heat second-year forward Nikola Jovic is making his case on a world stage
Shandel Richardson|
Miami Heat Social Media Reaction: Nikola Jovic's Fan Base Growing By The Day
Miami Heat Social Media Reaction: Nikola Jovic's Fan Base Growing By The Day

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Miami Heat

So much of this offseason for Miami Heat fans centered around the chase for Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard. 

So it's somewhat refreshing a new player has entered the discussion. Forward Nikola Jovic got the fan base going by scoring 25 points on 9 of 9 shooting in Serbia's victory against South Sudan Monday morning in the FIBA World Cup. 

A 4 a.m., tip-off had Jovic's name buzzing on the Internet by breakfast time. For once, there was no talk of Lillard. 

Jovic is averaging 17 points, three assists and 2.6 rebounds in helping Serbia to a 3-0 start in pool play. He is taking advantage of the team being without Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic, who isn't playing for his country this offseason. 

The tournament is allowing Jovic a chance to showcase his ability after playing mostly in the G League last year as a rookie. He was considered an ideal piece of any trade packages for Lillard but some are starting to think otherwise. Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson and rookie Jaime Jaquez are also trade bait possibilities.

The success of Jokic is likely causing the change in opinion. He is a two-time MVP, leading the Nuggets past the Heat in last year's NBA Finals. With international players having greater impacts each season, the Heat could be giving up too early on the next foreign sensation. 

It's still too early to tell on Jovic. Again, this isn't the NBA but he's at least using the opportunity to show he could become a solid player at that level. 

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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.

TWITTER: @ShandelRich

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For any Heat or NBA questions, please email shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star. TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here

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