Every season, the Miami Heat seem to find useful players outside of the first round of the draft. Pelle Larsson is already looking like the next one.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called Larsson, who was the No. 44 pick in June's draft, "a very good role player, and I mean that as the highest compliment."
Larsson was born in Sweden, then moved to the United States to play college basketball. He played for the Utah Utes his freshman year, then three seasons with the Arizona Wildcats, where he averaged 9.9 points and shot 38.5 percent from three-point range.
He wasn't a star at Arizona, just a very good role player. That fits in with what the Miami Heat tend to look for. The team loves four-year college players — especially from established programs, like Arizona. Miami cares more about a player's ability to defend and their comfort playing in the team's motion offense.
That describes a number of players on Miami's roster. All-Rookie first-teamer Jaime Jacquez Jr. was a four-year starter at UCLA who didn't become a big scorer until his senior year. Undrafted Duncan Robinson was 24 when he joined the Heat, after three years as an elite-shooting role player at Michigan. Even last year's big acquisition, Terry Rozier, established himself as a solid role player at Louisville and with the Celtics before taking on a bigger scoring role as a Charlotte Hornet.
For the Heat, being a "role player" isn't a knock; it's a path to playing time in South Beach.
Explaining the Heat's decision to trade into the second round to draft Larsson, Spoelstra explained:
"He’s an elite role player. If you mention that to some organizations, they probably think that that’s horrible. I think it fits absolutely with our style of play, our culture, how we view players and how they impact winning."
It's also useful because of the Heat's team structure. Team president Pat Riley loves anchoring teams with highly paid stars, like Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. But that top-heavy salary structure, coupled with their habit of sending out first-round picks to get stars, means the Heat have to find bargain players to fill out their roster — meaning non-lottery draft picks and undrafted players.
The upside is that players from the Heat system tend to get paid later. Undrafted Caleb Martin signed a $35M deal with the 76ers this summer. Last summer, undrafted Max Strus signed with the Cavs for $63M and undrafted Gabe Vincent got $33M from the Lakers.
The Heat may not be loaded with stars, but loading the team with elite role players has taken them to the Finals twice in the last five years. Larsson has a chance to be the next gem from Miami's role player factory.
