Coming off a fantastic summer showing for Pelle Larsson, Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra has a brand new problem on his hands that he'll have to figure out before the start of the 2025-26 NBA regular season. It's a good thing Spo will have the luxury of training camp and a pre-season, because he'll need every bit of it to solve this new headache.
Spo must figure out where Larsson stands amongst the rest of the Heat's rotation. Even after his strong summer, I wouldn't argue that Larsson deserves a starting spot, but there's no question he should be in the rotation. Or at least get a shot to lock up such a role heading into training camp.
I'd be hard-pressed to see Larsson not get a fair shake from Spo after the offseason he just put together. Larsson was eye-opening good during his time in the NBA Summer League and then with Team Sweden in the EuroBasket Tournament.
In helping lead Sweden, unexpectedly, to the knockout round in the EuroBasket Tournament, Larsson would go on to average 19 points, four rebounds, and three assists per game on 46 percent shooting from the field over the course of five total games.
Pelle Larsson deserves a spot in the rotation
But it wasn't just the overall production that should have Heat fans excited about his sophomore season; it was the other intangibles that jumped off the screen for Larsson.
For one, he was much more aggressive and confident as a player. After a pretty solid rookie season in the NBA, those were two areas where Larsson needed to improve the most.
At least during the summer, there are signs that Larsson understood the objective and did what he could do calm those concerns about his future. Sure, Larsson was still a little less efficient from 3-point range in both the summer league and in EuroBasket, but the hope is that he will continue to improve with time.
For what the Heat would ask Larsson to do in the rotation, which would be to fill the lane of an energy player off the bench, there's no reason to doubt that he could live up to that expectation.
Could he be much more than just an 8th or 9th man off the bench? Sure. However, despite his strong summer, that's something that Spo and the rest of the Heat coaching staff will have to figure out.
It's part of this completely new headache that the Heat will have heading into the start of training camp.
Theoretically speaking, the Heat could have eight or nine players vying for likely six rotation spots in the backcourt and on the wing. Larsson factors in there somewhere. Spo will have his hands full in figuring all of that out. Make no mistake; this is probably a good problem for the Heat to have.