The EuroBasket competition is going on, and the Miami Heat have two players participating: Pelle Larsson for Sweden and Nikola Jović for Serbia. Both are off to a great start in the tournament, and there are plenty of reasons to believe both should be able to parlay their momentum from the tournament to a successful NBA season.
However, there is a caveat to consider when it comes to success in this tournament and whether it will translate once the NBA season begins next month.
Miami needs to tread with caution
Larsson has played three games and seems to keep getting better with each game. In his most recent game on Monday, Larsson scored 28 points off 10/20 shooting and got to the free-throw line six times.
As we have highlighted from his Summer League play, Larsson's ability to get to the line all summer could be a major boost for a Heat team that was near the bottom of the league in free-throw attempts in 2024-25.
Jovic is also having a solid tournament. In his first two games, he scored 18 points before a one-point outing against Latvia and before a ten-point, seven-rebound outing against the Czech Republic.
Both Jovic and Larsson are in line to be 20+ minute a night guys for the Heat in 2025-26, but EuroBasket success isn't always an indicator of immediate NBA success.
Larsson is playing in one of the weaker groups in the tournament, and his 28 points against Montegegro came against a squad where its only NBA player is Nikola Vučević. Larsson also did not play in the game against Germany, which is the strongest team in Group B.
Jovic, meanwhile, has the benefit of playing on a loaded Serbian squad that features Nikola Jokić. In fact, all 12 players on Serbia's roster are either current or former NBA players. The 18 points in 16 minutes Jovic scored against Estonia came against a squad that has zero NBA talent on it
This isn't hating for the sake of hating, it's simply a proceed with caution warning. In the 2022 addition of this tournament, the All-Tournament Team consisted of:
- Willy Hernangómez
- Lorenzo Brown
- Rudy Gobert
- Dennis Schröder
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
Beyond Giannis, Gobert is a perfectly fine player who also hasn't made an All-Star team since 2022, while Dennis Schröder has been in the NBA since 2013 and has yet to make an All-Star team.
It just paints a picture to appreciate the performances, but wait until the real thing before planning a banner hanging ceremony.