Through a 14-game sample full of inconsistency and lineup fluctuation, Miami Heat rookie Pelle Larsson continues to stand out in his minutes.
The team’s No. 44 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft is coming arguably his most complete game of the season Monday against the Dallas Mavericks. Larsson, who finished fourth on the team in minutes (37), finished with 14 points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal, shooting 6-of-8 from the floor and 1-of-2 from 3-point range.
Heat star Jimmy Butler continued to praise Larsson after Sunday’s winning effort, stating that Larsson reminds him of when he was a rookie over a decade ago.
“[Pelle Larsson] just does everything,” Butler said, according to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “He can shoot the ball, he can handle the ball, he can finish, he can guard. I think as the game continues to slow down for him, he’s just going to get more comfortable and better.
“It’s really going to be hard for [head coach Erik Spoelstra] to take him off the floor. I like the way that I always see him in early, leaving late. Honestly, he reminds me of myself whenever I was younger in this league. He can probably shoot the ball a lot better than I did, though.”
Larsson, 23, has established himself as the team’s most ready-made rookie through the early portion of the season. He’s averaging 5.9 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists on 58.8 percent shooting, including 42.9 percent from 3-point range on 1.6 attempts per game; on a per-75-possession basis, those numbers spike to 13.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.3 steals.
The 6-foot-5 guard’s numbers go beyond the box score, however. He’s already shown he can be one of their most trusted point-of-attack defenders, smartest cutters and proficient knockdown shooters. He’s a secondary connector, but he doesn’t need the ball in his hands to make an immediate impact.
Going back to his four-year career at Arizona, he’s always been a perfect glue guy with his impact transcending what the raw numbers say. Correlation doesn’t always equal causation, but also been one of the few players to help connect the Butler-Adebayo groupings, which have been fairly mediocre to begin the 2024-25 season. When Larsson shares the floor with both players, the Heat is plus-38.8 points per 100 possessions (100th percentile), sporting a 138.8 offensive rating (100th) and 64.3 effective field goal percentage (100th) in 67 possessions, admittedly a small sample, per Cleaning The Glass.
That doesn’t mean he should start, though he’s worthy of staying in Spoelstra’s 9-10-man rotation, earning consistent minutes alongside either one of Butler or Adebayo. After all, he helps space the floor and knows how to move with a purpose–an area that the team collectively struggles with.
What do you think about Jimmy Butler’s comments and Larsson’s spot in the rotation? Let us know in the comments!
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Most of guys coming into league are 20 or less year old. Guys like Larsson are more mature players at their age. But he is great, a prototype of a modern wing.