The Heat have plenty to sell fans on right now, but one name still deserves a bigger spotlight: Pelle Larsson.
He’s the kind of player who can get lost in the noise around a loaded roster, yet his second season showed real growth. Larsson’s effective field goal percentage jumped by 3.4, a bigger rise than any of the top five Most Improved Player vote-getters.
His usage ticked up a bit, and his time of possession doubled. That’s the kind of progression that matters: more responsibility, better efficiency.
Miami’s offense leaned heavily on a single approach last year, but Larsson still found ways to matter. He finished with the fourth-best two-point percentage on the team at 58.6, and 64.7 percent of those shots came with an assist attached. He also had 20 games with at least five assists, which is why it wouldn’t be a surprise if Erik Spoelstra asks him to do even more as a connector on the ball.
That matters because the Heat’s playmaking pool is not exactly overflowing. After Giannis Antetokounmpo, Davion Mitchell and Dru Smith, the options thin out quickly. There’s always the unusual route of turning Bam Adebayo into more of a decision-maker, but Larsson handling the ball more often would ease a lot of the burden elsewhere.
If he makes another jump in 2026-27, it’ll be hard to miss. He already works as a solid release valve, and his game should stand out even more with so much of the offense flowing around Antetokounmpo and Adebayo. The next step is obvious: the 3-point shot.
Larsson hit just 32.3 percent from deep on low volume in 2025-26, a dip from his rookie year. Most of those looks were wide open, with 81.5 percent coming when he had six or more feet of space, and that probably won’t change much if he keeps living off catch-and-shoot chances. If that shot comes around quickly, it could matter a lot, especially with opponents set to load up on Antetokounmpo and Adebayo.
He already brings value on the other end, too. Larsson’s defense is built on sharp help instincts and enough foot speed to hold up on the perimeter.
He competes without overdoing it, though he does have a tendency to drift off the arc. That was an issue for the team as a whole, with Miami allowing the most open 3-point attempts.
If that overhelping gets cleaned up, the Heat could save around 10 points a night. Even so, if Larsson hits a rough patch, it’s more likely to show up on offense than defense.
The minutes are trending his way as well. As a rookie, 15 players played more than him.
Last season, that number dropped to six. Given the way the roster is built and the tools he already has, Larsson should be in line to finish top five on the team in minutes in 2026-27, even with Tim Hardaway Jr. added to the mix.
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Heat Just Got Pulled Into A Wild LeBron And Giannis Twist
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LeBron James ended up elsewhere, too, with Philadelphia becoming his new home in a twist that only added to the sense that New York had quietly altered the market by standing pat. For Miami, the bigger picture is simple enough: the Heat added one of the leagues biggest names, but the path that brought him there was shaped by a Knicks decision that left two superstars looking for a different landing spot. [Read more 🡒]