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Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra spent much of last week in Europe, and for good reason. Not only does the Heat have three current players preparing to take part in this year’s EuroBasket tournament, but two of those players are recent Heat draft picks who are part of the organization’s youth movement. Heat forward Simone Fontecchio will represent his home country of Italy, Heat forward Nikola Jovic is on Serbia’s roster and Heat guard Pelle Larsson is playing for Sweden, with Jovic and Larsson among the seven players on Miami’s roster who are 25 or younger. That had Spoelstra traveling through Europe last week, spending time in Stockholm to watch Larsson represent Sweden in a EuroBasket prep game against Estonia before heading to Belgrade to watch Jovic play for the Serbian national team in an exhibition against Slovenia.
Erik Spoelstra about Nikola Jovic spending time with Serbia team: He always comes back to us more mature
“I’m really excited for Niko,” Spoelstra said during a television interview while he was in Belgrade last week, with Jovic eligible to sign an extension with the Heat this offseason. “I love it when he spends time with the national team. Every time he comes back to us, he comes back more mature. I think being around a group that knows how to win, that really cares about winning, the team is so connected also. So I think it makes a big impression on him. We’re looking forward to some great things ahead for him with us.”
Erik Spoelstra: Hopefully, we're going to be a lot better than last year
“Well,” Erik Spoelstra said, according to The Sun Sentinel. “Hopefully, we’re going to be a lot better than last year. We had to really navigate quite a few things during the season. But we did make the playoffs. The playoffs did not go how we wanted it to go, but the league is tough. “We pride ourselves on finding a way to compete for a championship every single year, so that’s what our standard is, that’s what we’re aiming to do this year, and I think we have a good group. We have an exciting group of young players like Pelle. And we have experience, and have that competitive drive that we look for. So it’s a matter of putting it together and getting out there and competing for it.”
In an exhibition game featuring two of the best basketball players in the world—Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic—Nikola Jovic stole the show. He finished as the leading scorer with 18 points (7/8 2PT, 1/2 3PT, 1/1 FT) and grabbed seven rebounds in 19 minutes. Jovic led Serbia to a dominant 106-72 victory over Slovenia, with his Miami Heat coach, Erik Spoelstra, watching from the stands at Belgrade Arena. "I was motivated. He's perhaps the best coach in the world," Jovic told Mozzart Sport after the game. "He traveled such a long way to see me, and I wanted to show that I can be even better next season."
Still, Spoelstra indicated that Larsson has earned a rotation role, which would be a step up from last season’s limited action. “We just want to have him as an all-around player,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat to open training camp Sept. 30 at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. “Now, he’s a very smart player, he’s a heady player, very skilled. And so during summer league we just had him handle the ball for us, more for his player development. It’s not that we’re trying to turn him into a point guard. But the more skills he can add, it can help your team. “And he’s a physical player. We call him a bully with the basketball. He knows how to draw fouls. He knows how to get into the paint. He’s improving his passing. And we think with improved ballhandling, he’ll be able to take advantage of those skills even more.”
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Eurohoops: 🤩🔥 Spoelstra and Sfairopoulos couldn't miss Jokic vs. Doncic clash pic.x.com/FlR1lxck2N
🤩🔥 Spoelstra and Sfairopoulos couldn't miss Jokic vs. Doncic clash pic.twitter.com/FlR1lxck2N
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) August 21, 2025
Anthony Chiang: During a televised interview in Sweden, Erik Spoelstra says his plan is to watch Nikola Jovic and the Serbian national team tomorrow. Spoelstra currently in Stockholm to watch Pelle Larsson play for Sweden.
But he was able to make an impact in other ways by drawing enough fouls to go 23 of 25 at the free-throw line and also impressing with his hustle and defense during summer league. “That was a good teaching point for him and we were all encouraged by the mental makeup he had,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said while appearing on an ESPN broadcast of a Heat summer league game in Las Vegas “Look, it was uneven offensively — there’s no doubt about it. He had a lot of turnovers, some mistakes. All the intangibles — the defense, the hustle plays, the passing, all of that he was able to do while having some uneven offensive play. “Sometimes that can take a spirit or confidence away from a player, but he found a way to impact the game, impact winning. That’s what our scouts really liked about him as a young player. They watched him a whole lot more than we did at Illinois.”
The Heat’s biggest move this offseason — up to this point — is its trade for veteran guard Norman Powell, who was among six NBA players who averaged at least 21 points per game while shooting better than 48% from the field and better than 40% from three-point range last regular season. “We know we have to improve,” Spoelstra continued. “We knew we had to do some things this offseason. We know that we have to have a really good training camp, which I think we will. Guys are going to come in prepared. We’ll have a productive August and September. Everybody is motivated. We’ve had plenty of time off. Everybody wants to just gear up and get ready.”
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Spoelstra is also looking into the Heat’s in-game collapses, as Miami blew a double-digit lead in a league-leading 22 losses last regular season. The Heat also wasted a fourth-quarter lead in a league-leading 21 losses last regular season. “Those close games are something that we’ve really analyzed,” Spoelstra said while in Las Vegas for summer league action, which the Heat will wrap up Friday against the Milwaukee Bucks’ summer squad (7 p.m. ESPN+). “That can change the trajectory of your season if you handle those moments of truth better, if you have a few more wins out of those groupings of games that were very winnable with fourth-quarter leads and that kind of stuff. The whole league is trying to figure that out. But that has given us something to really dive into. And then offensively, building a system where it can be dynamic and a little bit tougher to just prepare for if you’re on the other side.”
And, yes, Ware took stock of Spoelstra’s admonishment. “I mean,” Ware said, “it all comes down to like Spo said, just putting in the effort, going out there and playing. That’s just what I wanted to show that I can do. “I just took it as motivation. Obviously, he’s the coach and he has that trust in me and he wants to see me be the best that I can be. So I took it as motivation.”
Heat planning to keep Andrew Wiggins
With an NBA source confirming to the Sun Sentinel that the Heat’s plan at the moment is to move forward with Andrew Wiggins for training camp, Erik Spoelstra spoke of how the goal is getting Wiggins in a comfort zone. “I think there’s still real opportunity for growth with him as he gets comfortable with us,” Spoelstra said, with Wiggins acquired in the Feb. 6 deal at the NBA training deadline that sent Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors. “He’s already down in Miami right now and will be bringing his family in. He’s going to be here most of August and September, I think just to get more acclimated. And I think that’s really important for him.”
Erik Spoelstra: “It’s not easy changing teams midseason. But you can see the possibilities of the two-way play. He’s really dynamic defensively. He can guard, in our system, multiple players. Offensively, his skill set is really unique because you can go to him.”
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