The Miami Heat have plenty to sort through after a busy offseason, but one of the more interesting decisions sitting in front of them involves Pelle Larsson.
Larsson, the Heat’s second-round pick from 2024, has already put himself on the radar as a breakout name. In fact, there’s a real argument that the breakout already happened last season. He’s now in line to be a major part of Miami’s rotation this year and beyond, and that makes his rookie contract extension situation worth watching closely.
His production took a clear step forward last season. Larsson shot 49.6 percent from the field and averaged 11.4 points, building on the early contributions he made after entering the league.
He also benefited from a backcourt that was forced into a lot of different looks over the past two seasons. Terry Rozier missed the entire 2025-26 season because of his involvement in a sports gambling fraud case, and Tyler Herro also missed significant time with injury.
That opened the door for Larsson to log a much bigger role, and he started 54 games.
That role may only grow. With the Heat reshaping the roster and adding names like Klay Thompson, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Nick Richards, Larsson is still in the mix to start at shooting guard. He or Thompson is expected to open the season in that spot in October.
Larsson’s momentum isn’t limited to Miami, either. The 25-year-old is leading Sweden through the FIBA Basketball World Cup European Qualifiers, and he just turned in a 31-point performance in a loss to Team Finland. His game appears to be moving in the right direction at exactly the moment the Heat have to decide whether to extend him.
That’s the tricky part for Pat Riley and the front office. Larsson is now eligible for a rookie contract extension, but Miami may be reluctant to move too quickly after the contract it gave Nikola Jovic before last season. Jovic, 23, was seen as one of the team’s better young pieces, yet he may not even get steady minutes in this revamped rotation.
The Heat have until next June to make the call. If Larsson keeps trending the way he has, though, the price could look very different by then.
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For Miami, the larger takeaway is less about Denvers roster sheet and more about how the Western race is shifting around it. If the Nuggets get the kind of production they expect, they will remain a real problem in the playoff picture, which only raises the pressure on everyone else trying to climb the bracket. The debate now is whether this is the kind of offseason move that simply adds scoring or one that changes how far Denver can go when the games matter most. [Read more 🡒]