By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer
MIAMI (AP) — The Miami Heat and forward Nikola Jovic have agreed on the framework of a four-year, $62.4 million extension, a person with knowledge of the talks said Wednesday night.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because the contract has not been signed.
It’s a significant commitment by the Heat to Jovic, who averaged 5.5 points as a rookie, 7.7 points in his second season and then 10.7 points last season. Jovic is coming off a strong summer working with the Serbian national team, and the Heat expect that his role is going to continue to grow this season.
“He’s becoming more mature, more professional,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said earlier this week at media day, when asked about Jovic and how his time with the Serbian team has helped in recent summers. “And if you’re hanging out with players much older than you, it just naturally happens. I’ve seen growth from him over three years because of that standard that they’ve had in that program.”
The Heat and Jovic had until Oct. 20 to work out an extension. Otherwise, the 6-foot-10 Jovic — the No. 27 pick by Miami in the 2022 draft — would have been a restricted free agent next summer.
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