If the Mavericks do end up talking seriously with Miami about Klay Thompson, Nikola Jovic is the kind of name that can sound better than it plays on paper.
The 23-year-old forward has plenty going for him. He’s a 6-foot-10 floor-spacing wing/big, a solid athlete who can work as a cutter and finish plays off the ball. That kind of skill set always gets attention, and it’s easy to see why fans would want Dallas to chase him in a Thompson deal.
But the fit gets messy fast.
Jovic’s NBA career has already been shaped by injuries, and last season was the roughest stretch yet. He appeared in only 47 games, which was actually the most he has played in any of his first four seasons.
Since entering the league, he has been available for just 47 percent of possible regular-season games. Some of that came from Miami trying to sort out his role early on, but the bigger concern is hard to ignore: he has been injury-prone.
That matters for a Mavericks team that already has enough durability questions and plenty of bodies at the three and four. Dallas does not need another player crowding that same lane, especially one whose game overlaps with what the roster already has.
New addition Santi Aldama is the clearest example. His style lines up almost exactly with Jovic’s, but Aldama is the more efficient shooter and a much better offensive connector. There’s only so much room for players with the same or similar skill sets, no matter how promising they are.
The salary match makes Jovic an obvious target in theory, since his deal lines up closely with Thompson’s. Still, Dallas would be better served looking elsewhere, whether that means pushing for a defensive guard like Davion Mitchell from the Heat or finding a stronger package from another team entirely.
The Mavericks should absolutely keep the focus on adding young talent this summer. But Jovic, coming off averages of 7.3 points per game and ugly shooting splits of 36.6/26.9/68.3, is not the clean answer here.
Dallas also doesn’t have to rush. The front office has the leverage, so there’s no reason to take the first Miami offer that comes along for Thompson. In fact, there’s no obligation to send him to the Heat at all if a better deal shows up somewhere else.
Jovic is still an interesting prospect in a vacuum. He just isn’t the right one for a Mavericks team that already has too much overlap and too many injury concerns to add another complicated fit.
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