If the Miami Heat have an organizational superpower, it's not Erik Spoelstra, Pat Riley, the white sands of South Beach, or even the famed #culture. It's a developmental program that routinely mines the second round of the NBA draft and undrafted ranks for one hidden gem after the next.
Pelle Larsson, last summer's 44th pick, appears en route to becoming the next success story from this basketball factory's assembly line. He already hinted at such with a quietly strong showing down last season's final stretch—he logged the team's ninth-most playoff minutes—but he hammered that point home by breaking out at summer league before heading off to join Sweden's national team ahead of EuroBasket.
Larsson could be line for big sophomore season.
You know how other teams sometimes find pleasant surprises in the second round or, every so often, lengthen their rotation a bit with an undrafted free agent? Well, the Heat work that roster-building magic so often, it's almost expected now that an unheralded young player will become a useful puzzle piece.
Whether it's uncovering a franchise icon in Udonis Haslem, stumbling upon the league's next great shooter in Duncan Robinson, or finding perhaps the league's least likely conference finals star in Caleb Martin, Miami has made it a habit to find value where others simply cannot. It's as much a part of this organization's identity as the constellation of stars that rises above Biscayne Bay every now and again.
And Larsson already looks like the next in line.
At summer league, the 24-year-old consistently seemed a step ahead of the rest. Opponents couldn't keep him off the scoreboard (team-high 18 points per game) or away from the foul line (9.7 free-throw attempts, third-most in the league). He even tied for the team lead with 3.7 assists, or 0.7 assists more than presumed first-round steal Kasparas Jakučionis, who seemed like (and might still be) the answer to their playmaking problems.
Larsson is a master of the little things. The summer league stage allows him to experiment and step outside of his comfort zone, but his NBA calling is so obviously that of a glue guy, that his representatives should be working on an Elmer's endorsement.
As Spoelstra told reporters in October, Larsson is "an elite role player" who "fits absolutely with our style of play, our culture." That's how Larsson navigated from life on the fringes of the rotation to a starting spot and a permanent piece of the playoff rotation in a single NBA season.
To borrow a Spo-ism, Larsson does what's required, even if that job description varies wildly from night to the next. In Las Vegas and the California Classic before that, he handled a heavier offensive load than he will in the regular season and executed as needed. As he trickles back into a more supporting role with the big-league club, his off-ball activity, spot-up shooting, timely cutting, and secondary playmaking should perk up once again.
That's why it feels impossible to make too much of what Larsson has done at summer league, because, more than anything, all this did was put a spotlight on the strides he's already made. And given the track record of this fertile farm system, it's only natural to expect that progress to continue.