Miami Heat guard Pelle Larsson was a standout for Sweden in FIBA World Cup qualifying this summer. He scored 23 points against France (not enough for the win, but he outscored Victor Wembanyama). He completely outplayed Lauri Markkanen, leading Sweden past Finland with 31 points on 9-of-17 shooting and adding five boards.
Miami is banking on more of that kind of play from Larsson around Giannis Antetokounmpo in the coming years, which is why they have locked him up with a four-year, $60 million contract extension, something first reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania and confirmed by other sources. The final year of this deal is a mutual option. That extension kicks in for the 2027-28 season, Larson will make $2.3 million this season on the remainder of his rookie contract.
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Larsson was a second-round pick out of Arizona in 2024 and has shown real growth in his game in his two NBA seasons. In 70 games last season, 54 as a starter, Larsson averaged 11.4 points and 3.5 rebounds a game, and while he’s not a great 3-point shooter yet (32.3% last season), he is an efficient scorer overall, with a 60.5 true shooting percentage last season. Erik Spoelstra is a big fan and called him the ultimate glue guy. While he started last season, it’s expected he will begin this season coming off the bench behind Klay Thompson.
Larsson has sort of taken over the role Miami hoped Nikola Jovic would fill, but Jovic fell out of Spoelstra’s rotation last season. About a year ago, the Heat and Jovic agreed to a four-year, $62.5 million extension that kicks in this season. On that front, the Larsson contract is a real value (the Heat are hoping for more from Jovic this season).
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