Each step toward the NBA is tougher than the last but brings Stefan Jankovic that much closer to fulfilling his dream.
Jankovic, the undrafted forward out of Hawaii, took a big stride Wednesday when the Miami Heat announced they signed him off their summer league roster to a free-agent contract for the 2016-17 season. Terms were not disclosed, but reports from Miami media outlets pegged it as a non-guaranteed deal that should take Jankovic through fall training camp, where he’ll fight for a full roster spot.
The Heat have been one of the Eastern Conference’s more competitive teams over the last decade-plus but are in a state of flux with the recent departure of Dwyane Wade and uncertainty on Chris Bosh’s playing future. Miami won it all in 2006, 2012 and 2013.
“Happy but I know that I got a bunch of work ahead of me but I couldn’t be with a more world-class organization than the Miami Heat,” Jankovic messaged the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
A few hours earlier, Jankovic, a “stretch 4” in NBA parlance, posted 10 points and six rebounds in the Heat’s 81-77 summer league playoff win over New Orleans in Las Vegas. He shot 4-for-8 and chipped in two assists, a steal and a block for his best game in Vegas. His top overall outing in six summer games came in his debut in Orlando, Fla., on July 2, when he had 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting against the Los Angeles Clippers.
UH coach Eran Ganot glowed about the Big West Player of the Year’s progress, saying “our program and everybody in Hawaii are really happy for him and his family.” Ganot noted that when former Saint Mary’s guard Matthew Dellavedova went undrafted in 2013, it didn’t deter Dellavedova and made him work all the harder until he finally cracked into the league with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Ganot thinks Jankovic is giving himself a chance to walk a similar path.
“All you can do is continue to push the envelope,” Ganot said. “After the (UH) season it was about getting on a summer league team. He did that. Then it was about getting an opportunity like he has now. Then it’s about, obviously, getting (it) more concrete there. But that’s all you can do right now. He’s maximized what he can do. He’s put himself in position to have another opportunity.”
Jankovic’s addition brought Miami’s roster to 16 players for next season — one more than the maximum allowed by the close of training camp but under the max of 20 until then, per the Miami Sun Sentinel.
Miami’s established front court includes Bosh — who might or might not return from an ongoing issue with blood clots — Hassan Whiteside, Udonis Haslem and Josh McRoberts. Some reports speculated that the Heat could try to assign Jankovic to Miami’s D-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, if he doesn’t make the regular roster right off the bat.
Jankovic is striving to become the first former Rainbow Warrior to play in the NBA since Anthony Carter retired in 2012. Carter, interestingly, went undrafted but latched on with the Heat as a free agent in 1999 and enjoyed a 13-year career among six teams.
The last UH player to reach a free-agent agreement out of college was Carl English with the Indiana Pacers in 2003, but he was cut in training camp.
Besides Carter, Predrag Savovic was the most recent UH player to appear in an NBA regular-season game, in 2002. He appeared in 27 games with the Denver Nuggets during the 2002-03 season, totaling 83 points.
The Heat continue the Las Vegas summer league playoffs today against the Phoenix Suns. It’s another opportunity for Jankovic to showcase his strengths (shooting/spacing) and improve on his weaknesses (defense/foul trouble).
“I always say for him, his arrow is trending upwards,” Ganot said.
