Pelle Larsson will enter this season as the only Miami Heat player on the roster who can't be traded. After signing his new contract extension with the Heat, worth $60 million over the next four years, Larsson can't be traded for six months. That restriction will go past the February NBA Trade Deadline.
That means if the Heat ever got to the point where they wanted to trade Larsson, it would have to wait until next summer.
Of course, this isn't to say that the Heat would want to trade him anyway, but it speaks to the lengths the team was willing to go to lock up Larsson. If nothing else, this only adds to the idea that Miami has some big plans (and hopes) for Larsson this season.
That will certainly be the expectation from the start of training camp.
How high could Pelle Larsson fly this season for the Heat?
Larsson has certainly come a long way from being a second-round pick for the Heat a couple of years ago. After just two seasons with the Heat, he's quickly immersed himself into one of the most important role players on the team.
Depending on how training camp pans out, there's even an outside chance that Larsson could end up being an everyday starter this season. Most still believe that Larsson's best role for the Heat this season will revolve around helping lead the second unit, but starting is not completely out of the realm of possibility.
At the very least, it's certainly something to keep an eye out for.
But ultimately, it comes down to how high a ceiling Larsson has. Despite the hype surrounding him as he prepares for his third season, and the fact that he was given an early contract extension, we still don't necessarily know what his ceiling is. Let's not forget; he's also not yet had a "breakout" year.
For better or worse, all the hype for Larsson is speculative. And, if we're being honest, this is something Heat fans have to be careful with. After all, we all saw how that played out for Nikola Jovic last season.
When everyone believed that Jovic was on his way to a breakout year, he kind of fell flat. Sure, injuries played a big part in that, but even when he was healthy, he never made the jump that most expected him to.
That doesn't mean that's going to repeat with Larsson, but you never know.
And that's part of the reason why this extension should mean so much more from the Heat. The fact that they were burned just last season by making a very similar move with another player speaks to how much faith they have in Larsson.
At least for one year, Larsson will find himself in a position that no other Heat player will - by definition, a truly untouchable player on the trade market.
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