During his time with the Miami Heat last season, Pelle Larsson was mainly just "a guy" on the court. He could knock down a three-pointer or two, could pick up an assist or two, and would make the occasional trip to the free-throw line.
But lost in the drama of Miami's Summer League stint with Kel'el Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis was the play of Larsson, who looked like he is ready for an increased role heading into the 2025-26 season.
Pelle Larsson has a huge NBA Summer League
The biggest thing Larsson proved this summer was his willingness to get downhill and draw contact. He must have taken notes from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander because Larsson lived at the free throw line and had multiple games with 10+ attempts.
Mind you, Miami was 27th in free throw attempts during the 2024-25 campaign, so there is a spot for a guy like Larsson to draw contact and put some form of pressure on opposing defenses.
So in one breath, you could envision Larsson getting more ball-handling duties in 2025-26, especially if the Heat have any kind of vision to turn Tyler Herro into more of an off-ball player.
But before one starts envisioning a banner-raising ceremony 20 years from now, there is some buyer beware from his summer stint.
For as much as we critiqued Jakucionis for being a turnover machine this summer, Larsson wasn't much better in this category, having multiple games of 5+ turnovers, and overall, he was in the red for his assist-to-turnover ratio.
Like Jakucionis, Larsson was playing with a mismatched crew that he didn't have cohesion with, and during his 55 games with the Heat last year, he was north of 2-to-1 in this category.
But the bigger question mark, and the one that will dictate his overall fate with the Heat, is whether he can improve his finishing at the rim to force defenses to feel the need to foul in the first place.
Last year, Larsson shot 59% from inside five feet, which was middle of the pack for NBA guards. His finishing from 5-9 feet was 30%, which was bottom third in the NBA for guards.
His finishing during the summer was fine enough, but often his 10+ free throw attempts were matched with going 4-12 shooting from the field.
So if Larsson can improve his finishing and get cohesion with his backcourt mates, he could be a 20+ minute a night guy for the Heat in 2025-26 as he turns into a bit of a free throw merchant for Miami.
If his finishing doesn't continue to improve, he might just wind up being the Summer League darling for 2025.