If there's been one silver lining in the midst of the Miami Heat's injury struggles to begin the year, it's the fact that head coach Erik Spoelstra may have gotten some much-needed clarity on Pelle Larsson. With the way he's played with a bigger opportunity with Tyler Herro and Norman Powell out with injuries, it's going to be increasingly more difficult for Spo to keep Larsson out of the rotation.
One mistake that Spo will need to avoid, even when Herro and Powell are back from injury, is to revert Larsson back to an end-of-the-bench contributor.
Before seeing his role expand over the last three games, Larsson was averaging just five minutes per game. As you'd expect, his impact was minimal during those first three games of the season.
However, with Powell out, Spo elected to give Larsson an opportunity to prove himself. He's managed to do that, and then some.
Spo can't releget Pelle Larsson back to an irrelevant role
Over the last three games, Larsson is averaging 13 points, four assists, and four rebounds per game on 56 percent from the field and 39 percent from 3-point range. Perhaps most importantly, he's averaging less than one turnover per game and is making winning plays that don't show up on the stat sheet.
While Larsson certainly still has his lapses, in which he makes a bad decision here and there, he's the type of player that every playoff team needs to be successful. And he's clearly feasting in the Heat's new offense. Larsson is still developing as a player, but has already shown promising signs. And if he is only going to get better, Spo needs to find minutes for him even when the Heat is back at full strength.
Even though that may prove to be a difficult thing to pull off, it will be worth it in the end if the Heat is hoping to see another one of their young players make a strong developmental step this season.
I don't think anyone will be demanding that Spo keep Larsson in the starting lineup when Powell and Herro are back, but there's an argument to be made that he should get the backup point guard minutes that are currently going to Dru Smith.
For as much as the coaching staff may have an appreciation for Smith, Larsson has been the better and more efficient player when given the opportunity.
Predicting what Spo will do with his rotation once the Heat are back at full strength is practically impossible. However, especially with the way he's been playing of late, Larsson is proving that he deserves consistent minutes for the Heat.
I can't see how Spo and the rest of this coaching staff won't oblige.