MIAMI — The Miami Heat announced a home exhibition schedule Monday that, at least for now, will feature the No. 1 picks in both the 2024 and ’23 NBA drafts.
In addition to a preseason visit by the San Antonio Spurs, who feature 2023 No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama, the Heat’s home preseason schedule also features a visit by the Atlanta Hawks, who hold the No. 1 pick in the June 26 first round of the draft.
The Heat’s other home preseason game is against the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Heat preseason road games have yet to be announced, and the 2024-25 regular-season schedule is expected to be released in August.
The Heat’s three preseason dates at Kaseya Center are Oct. 10 at 7:30 p.m. against the Hawks, Oct. 13 at 3:30 p.m. against the Pelicans and Oct. 15 at 7:30 p.m. against the Spurs.
Tickets for those three games go on sale Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Heat.com and Ticketmaster.com. As in recent seasons, all Heat home games will feature mobile entry.
The Heat are scheduled to unveil a new, larger scoreboard next season as apart of ongoing upgrades at Kaseya Center.
The Sun. Oct. 13 exhibition comes during a bye week on the Miami Dolphins’ schedule.
Although the Hawks could still trade the No. 1 selection in this year’s draft, the Spurs’ 2024-25 roster will include Wembanyama, the 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year and cornerstone to the rebuild for Gregg Popovich’s team. As with all exhibitions, there is no assurance of participation by specific Heat or visiting players.
Wembanyama closed with 18 points and 13 rebounds in his lone appearance last season at Kaseya Center, a 116-104 Heat victory.
The past two seasons, the Heat have played five-game preseason schedules, with three exhibitions at home and two on the road.
Before the preseason, the Heat also will play summer-league schedules in both San Francisco and Las Vegas. Also this summer, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra will serve as an assistant coach on Steve Kerr’s Team USA staff at the Paris Olympics, with that roster to include Heat center Bam Adebayo.
The Heat are scheduled to hold their preseason media day on Sept. 30 before opening training camp on Oct. 1.
Jovic on roster
As expected, second-year Heat forward Nikola Jovic on Monday was listed in the preliminary pool for Serbia’s Olympic roster, joined on the initial 16-player list that also includes Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Atlanta Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic.
Jovic, who turned 21 last week, was on the Serbia roster that took silver at last summer’s World Cup, falling to Germany in that championship game in the Philippines.
Jovic, selected at No. 27 in the 2022 NBA draft, began last season out of the Heat rotation, before emerging as a playoff starter at power forward.
Now back training in Europe, Jovic addressed his goals during an interview with HoopsHype as part of his marketing agreement with adidas.
“I know I can grow in a lot of ways basketball-wise,” he said. “There’s not one thing that I can focus on, I have to focus on so many of them, like from shooting to, dribbling, passing, basically everything. I feel like there’s so much room and space where I can improve, and I feel like I’ll show it at least a little more next season.”
He said the sting of losing in the first round still hurts after the Heat made the 2023 NBA Finals.
“Last year we were in the Finals, this year we lost in the first round, and this year I had a lot bigger role. I didn’t feel great losing,” he said. “I have to be better. All of us have to be better, and I’m sure we will.”
