Heat Notes: Spoelstra, Bam, Powell, Fontecchio
While Erik Spoelstra was upset on Tuesday about the “dangerous play” from LaMelo Ball that caused Bam Adebayo to injure his lower back, the Heat‘s head coach was calmer when he was asked about the incident in Thursday’s exit interviews, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
“I’m not really thinking about that anymore,” Spoelstra said Thursday. “I said what I had to say about it. I didn’t think that he needed to be penalized more moving forward. I don’t think that would make sense. I don’t think he’s a dirty player. I just think, at the moment, both things can be true. In that moment, it was a dirty play, a dangerous play. It should have been caught at that moment, but it wasn’t. And then, you move on.”
Adebayo also addressed the play and said he didn’t have any previous history with Ball to suggest there was any “bad blood” between them. An X-ray on the big man’s back came back negative, Chiang writes, and Adebayo hasn’t undergone an MRI to this point.
“Obviously, I’m still walking, so I’m OK,” Adebayo said after walking gingerly, but without any assistance, to the microphone on Thursday.
As for the offseason, Adebayo said questions about potential roster changes should be directed to Spoelstra and president Pat Riley. But the three-time All-Star acknowledged that the team will “probably” look different after missing the playoffs, and Adebayo made it clear where his motivation lies.
“You see how the last four years have been,” Adebayo said. “You can go in and voice that. Everybody in this building knows I want to win. I put on that jersey almost every game through hell and high water just because I want to win. I want to put us in a position to win. When you don’t win, I always put it on myself. That’s me going in the summer trying to be better. Trying to figure out how I can take my game to the next level, how I can be a better captain.
“And the business side is not my side. To me, being able to share my opinion is more important because that means you have somebody actively listening to you. For them to listen is me telling them I want to win. That’s bottom line.”
Here’s more on the Heat:
- Norman Powell made his first All-Star team in his first season in Miami, but injuries caused him to miss extended time after the break and he only played 19 minutes in Tuesday’s play-in loss to Charlotte, Chiang writes for The Miami Herald. The veteran wing openly expressed a desire to sign an extension with the Heat early in the season, but he was more guarded when he discussed his future with the team on Tuesday. “They have to make decisions and things based on the team and where they want to be and what they want to do next year,” Powell said of the Heat. “Hopefully I’m a part of the plan. And if I am, great. Like I said, I like my time here. So we’ll just see where they’re at, where my agent is at, and what’s going on in free agency.”
- Although Spoelstra was understandably disappointed with an early end to the Heat’s season, he struck an optimistic tone about the development of young players like Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Pelle Larsson and Kasparas Jakucionis, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. “There was significant improvement. You saw his ability to compete in a meaningful game and produce in the moments of truth,” Spoelstra said of Ware. “There were a lot of ups and downs this year, but I appreciate his intention every day trying to work at it, get better. And he still has a big offseason ahead to make that next jump hopefully.”
- Simone Fontecchio, who will be a free agent this summer, has already made it known he’d like to re-sign with Miami. The 30-year-old said on Thursday that he likely won’t play with the Italian national team during World Cup qualifying games in July, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, but is hopeful he’ll be able to suit up for games in August once his free agency is resolved.
Injury Notes: Doncic, Heat, Allen, Hunter, Butler
Lakers star Luka Doncic is scheduled to return to the United States and rejoin his team on Friday, reports Melissa Rohlin of the California Post.
Doncic, who suffered a Grade 2 left hamstring strain on April 2, had been in Spain receiving treatment on the injury in the hopes of accelerating his recovery timeline. According to Dave McMenamin and Shams Charania of ESPN, the All-Star guard has received multiple injections during his time overseas.
Although Doncic will be reporting back to the Lakers, his status going forward remains up in the air. Typically, a Grade 2 hamstring strain requires a recovery period of approximately a month, and Los Angeles won’t want to be cavalier about its franchise player’s health. Still, Doncic is pushing to return as quickly as he can and the team hasn’t offered any updates on his status since ruling him out for the regular season earlier this month.
We have more health updates from around the NBA:
- Heat guard Dru Smith (right big toe sprain / right foot soreness) and Nikola Jovic (left ankle sprain) have been ruled out for Tuesday’s play-in game in Charlotte, but forward Pelle Larsson expects to be available despite being listed as questionable due to a right lower leg contusion, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
- Suns wing Grayson Allen has been listed as questionable for Tuesday’s play-in game vs. Portland, with head coach Jordan Ott referring to him as “day-to-day,” according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Allen, who is dealing with left hamstring soreness, missed Sunday’s regular season finale. It sounds like his availability will be determined closer to tip-off.
- Kings forward De’Andre Hunter said he has made a “complete and successful recovery” from the eye injury that ended his season, tweets James Ham of The Kings Beat. Hunter underwent surgery on his left eye just after the All-Star break due to a detached retina. Although Sacramento’s season is over, the the 28-year-old has been cleared for basketball activities and should be able to go through his usual offseason routine.
- While Jimmy Butler‘s recovery from ACL surgery figures to extend well into the 2026/27 season, he’s making progress, according to Anthony Slater of ESPN (Twitter link), who notes that the Warriors swingman is no longer using crutches.
Heat Notes: Play-In Tournament, Ware, Larsson, Herro, Powell
The Heat‘s frustrating season, which will end with a fourth straight trip to the play-in tournament, is a result of being too patient with the current roster, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald contends in a subscriber-only piece. Big changes were expected after Miami was embarrassed by Cleveland in the first round of last year’s playoffs, but the core of the team remained intact and produced another mediocre campaign.
There are three traditional ways to improve in the NBA – tanking for a high draft pick, trading players at the peak of their value for future assets and aggressively pursuing unhappy stars – and Jackson argues that Heat management hasn’t pursued any of those options.
Team president Pat Riley is strongly opposed to tanking and ownership holds the same stance, so the first option is out. Jackson states that Bam Adebayo, who would be the organization’s top trade asset, remains “untouchable,” while Tyler Herro said last year that the front office told him he would only be moved for a top-75 all-time player. Jackson adds that Herro’s trade value has diminished as teams have become reluctant to part with assets for one-dimensional scorers. He also questions the commitment to Andrew Wiggins when the Lakers and other teams expressed interest last summer.
In addition, Jackson notes that Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Brandon Ingram and Derrick White have all been moved over the past three years at a cost of no more than one first-round pick. The Trae Young deal didn’t involve any first-rounders, and Ja Morant could have been obtained at a bargain price at the deadline.
Jackson also points out that Riley sounded confident about the Heat’s “draft-pick, young-player, favorable-contract situation” when he spoke to reporters last May, but since then the team gave a four-year, $62MM extension to Nikola Jovic that now looks like a mistake.
There’s more from Miami:
- Friday’s win over Washington preserves the Heat’s chances to earn home-court advantage for the 9 vs. 10 game if things break their way on the final day of the season, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. They would move into ninth place if they can win a home game against Atlanta and the Hornets lose at New York. No matter the outcome, coach Erik Spoelstra isn’t happy that his team tumbled into play-in territory again by going 4-10 in its last 14 games. “It’s harrowing,” he said. “We say it every year that we’ve been in there, you don’t want to be in there. But that’s sometimes the path you have to take.”
- Kel’el Ware replaced Pelle Larsson in the starting lineup on Friday and Spoelstra indicated that the move might be permanent, Chiang adds. “Kel’el is really important to what we’re trying to do,” Spoelstra said. “We all know about his upside. This can get him next to Bam, stabilize him a little bit to start the game. And then it gives us a little bit of flexibility as the game moves on. Sometimes in the last couple of weeks, some of the lineups with Bam have been really good. And then we end up going longer with that, and it just ends up being longer for Kel’el sitting on the bench. And he’s a key player for us, so this allows him to get some minutes right out of the gate.”
- Herro and Norman Powell both missed the Washington game with minor injuries, but they could return on Sunday, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel (Twitter link). “Hopefully it’s just for today,” Spoelstra said. “They’re both dealing with something that they just could not loosen up and get ready for tonight.”
Southeast Notes: Hornets, Risacher, Larsson, Magic
Hornets executive vice president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson, who was hired in March 2024, saw his team win just 19 games during his first full season on the job, but he remained confident in the work the front office was doing and isn’t shocked that Charlotte has taken a significant step forward in 2025/26, he told Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer.
“The thing that excites me the most or brings me the most joy is that we implemented the process when I first got here in multiple different facets of the organization, and we’ve been able to stick to those processes,” Peterson said. “That doesn’t mean that the result is always what we want it to be. But I sleep well knowing that we had a process going into the draft, and trade deadline and free agency, and we were able to execute what we wanted to execute.
“So, I’m not necessarily surprised that the team looks better this year. Not surprised because the process started when I first got here, but even this past summer. I’ve never been a part of a team where the entire team was here this summer working. And that was on their own.”
Currently the No. 9 seed, the Hornets still aren’t assured a playoff spot – or even a home play-in game – in a surprisingly competitive Eastern Conference. But after an 11-23 start, they’ve gone 32-14 since January 3, with young players like Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Moussa Diabate, Sion James, and Ryan Kalkbrenner emerging as key contributors. Will that internal improvement give Peterson the confidence to go out and seek another roster upgrade on the trade market this summer?
“I think there’s a lot of variables that go into that,” he told Boone. “I think sometimes people think trades are easy. They’re not. You’re dealing with another team, they have to want your player or want to trade that player that you may want. Salary’s got a match. There’s just a ton of variables at stake. So, it just kind of depends on which team you’re dealing with or what not, what the market is.
“I certainly don’t want to be in the business of overpaying for a player at this point. There could be a point where you have to do that. It’s not an exact science. You’re certainly going to get something wrong. But you’ve got to be pretty sure, the confidence interval has to be high if you’re going to put all your chips in and go get a player.”
We have more from around the Southeast:
- After playing a career-low seven minutes on Monday, Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher received the first DNP-CD of his NBA career on Wednesday in Cleveland, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic. The former No. 1 overall pick was a starter through the first half of the season, but has seen his playing time dip to 22.5 minutes per game through 65 total outings. Risacher, who was replaced in the rotation by Corey Kispert on Wednesday, has averaged 9.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per night, with a .457/.373/.636 shooting line.
- It has been a disappointing regular season for the Heat, who are trending toward a 10th-place finish that will require them to win two road games in the play-in tournament to make the playoffs. But the development of Pelle Larsson has been a bright spot, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, who notes that the second-year forward has become one of the club’s most reliable, consistent players. “Being an enhancer in every lineup, that’s just a credit to the way he plays,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He does all the effort things, he does all the intangibles, he does all the little things. That, of course, will work with any lineup. Every lineup needs energy, effort, and he provides that.”
- Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley is believed to be on the hot seat as the offseason nears, but center Goga Bitadze expressed appreciation on Wednesday for the job the coaching staff has done over the course of a challenging year, as Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel relays (Twitter video link). “(The) coaches (have) done a great job staying positive,” Bitadze said. “You can’t get down on yourself and bring that negative energy, but they haven’t done that at all. You know, Mose has been nothing but positive all season.”
Southeast Notes: Heat, Larsson, Knueppel, White, Vukcevic
Mired in a five-game losing streak, the Heat made a starting lineup change on Wednesday in Cleveland, bringing forward Pelle Larsson off the bench for the first time since January 13. The early returns on the adjustment were positive, as Miami snapped its losing streak with a 120-103 road victory over the Cavaliers.
As Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald relays, head coach Erik Spoelstra suggested the new starting five – Davion Mitchell, Tyler Herro, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, and Bam Adebayo – is his preferred group when everyone’s healthy, which often hasn’t been the case this season.
“There really wasn’t a lot of thought to it. It’s just now we have finally everybody available,” Spoelstra said. “So we’re able to get to the normal plan. Sometimes you can’t necessarily get to what you want to do based on injuries.”
Although Larsson was moved to the second unit, he still played just over 34 minutes in Wednesday’s win, which was easily his highest mark in a reserve role this season. After the game, Spoelstra praised Larsson for the energy he brought off the bench and made it clear the second-year forward will continue to be featured prominently even if he’s not starting.
“Pelle is undeniable, you can’t take him off the floor,” Spoelstra said. “So I didn’t think anything of (the role change), he didn’t think anything of it that we made the change. Because I know, and I know that he knows that I know that he’s going to play. He led us in minutes tonight. … I just love the way he competes, how he impacts the game, and his teammates really appreciate him as well.”
We have more from around the Southeast:
- Hornets wing Kon Knueppel is battling through some back soreness, but he nearly had the first triple-double of his NBA career in a win over New York on Thursday. Knueppel had 26 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists, and became the youngest player in league history to make at least 250 three-pointers in a single season, notes Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer. “I think sometimes he gets labeled as just a shooter, but we feel his impact in so many different ways,” head coach Charles Lee said of the rookie standout.
- Speaking to Boone for a separate Charlotte Observer story, new Hornets guard Coby White suggests the three weeks he spent recovering from a calf strain following his trade from Chicago to Charlotte last month allowed him to adjust to his new NBA home without getting thrown into the deep end right away. “I think what helped me was just – when I was out – picking up a lot of stuff, learning stuff, and then so I didn’t really have to learn it on the fly,” White said. “So it’s been good for me, just breaking down the film when I was out. It’s going to take time, but I feel like I’m getting accustomed to it for sure.” White has averaged 16.0 points in just 20.0 minutes per game in his first 13 outings for the Hornets.
- When he was promoted from his two-way contract to the standard roster last month, Wizards center Tristan Vukcevic signed a three-year, $8.86MM contract that is fully guaranteed through the 2026/27 season. The next step for the young big man will be proving he deserves a place in Washington’s long-term plans, writes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. “I’m obviously happy for my deal, but it doesn’t stop here,” Vukcevic said. “I’m still (only 23), I have a whole career in front of me. I think the contract is more motivation for me to work harder this summer and just get better. I don’t think I’m perfect. Everybody says I’m a shooter, but I have a lot of work there. This year, I haven’t shot the ball the way I’m supposed to.”
And-Ones: Fournier, Mamukelashvili, Queta, NCAA Tourney
Veteran wing NBA Evan Fournier, who currently plays for Olympiacos in Greece after spending 12 seasons in the NBA from 2012-24, said in an interview with L’Equipe that he expects to retire as a player at the end of his current contract, which expires in 2028 (hat tip to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops).
Fournier, 33, also indicated that he’d be interested in representing France again at the 2027 World Cup and/or 2028 Olympics if the national team wants him on its roster.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Raptors forward/center Sandro Mamukelashvili remains focused on competing in the NBA for the foreseeable future, but he told Ric Bucher of Full Court Passport (YouTube link) that he likes the idea of eventually finishing his career and spending his retirement years in Europe. Specifically, Mamukelashvili is intrigued by the possibility of competing in the NBA’s European league. “The talent will be there, and I think it’s going to compete with college and even the NBA,” the Georgian big man said of NBA Europe, per Eurohoops. “I’m looking forward to seeing how it develops, and hopefully, down the line, I will have my chance to play over there.”
- Celtics center Neemias Queta, Heat forward Pelle Larsson, and Cavaliers swingman Jaylon Tyson are among the role players highlighted by John Hollinger of The Athletic within a story on the unheralded contributors enjoying breakout seasons.
- Mamukelashvili and Queta are two of several minimum-salary players who should be in line for significant raises on their next contracts, according to Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link). Gozlan, who also examines players like Suns guards Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin, suggests Mamukelashvili could earn a starting salary of $8-10MM on his next deal and speculates that Queta’s floor will be the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($15MM+).
- Sam Vecenie of The Athletic identifies nine players he’s excited to watch in the NCAA Tournament, including top-five prospects like Duke’s Cameron Boozer and BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, as well as a few projected to be drafted later in the first round, such as UConn’s Braylon Mullins, Houston’s Chris Cenac Jr. and Alabama’s Amari Allen.
Heat Notes: Powell, Herro, Bam, Mitchell, Jovic, Schedule
After missing the Heat‘s last seven games due to a right groin strain, All-Star wing Norman Powell suited up on Saturday’s four-point loss to Orlando, finishing with 21 points (on 7-of-15 shooting) and three assists in 31 minutes.
Powell’s return came with a twist, however, as he came off the bench for the first time in nearly two years, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. The Heat won all seven of the games Powell missed and coaches told him they didn’t want to “mess the flow up.”
Tyler Herro, who had played well in place of Powell for the first five games of that winning streak, also returned to action on Saturday after missing two games with left quad soreness. He started at shooting guard alongside Davion Mitchell, Pelle Larsson, Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware.
“Look, these are not easy decisions right now,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said of moving Powell to the bench. “He’s going to play a lot of minutes. Tyler is going to play a lot of minutes. Right now, we just need to focus on winning games and pouring into the team right now. We want to be healthy. We want our guys out there. We want our firepower. We want our options. With that comes some way of sacrifice.”
Backup guard Dru Smith received his fourth DNP-CD of the season with Powell and Herro active, Chiang notes.
Here’s more on the Heat:
- Star big man Adebayo was not happy with the officiating crew following Saturday’s game, Chiang adds in the same story. With Miami down four and 36.6 seconds remaining, Larsson was called for five-second inbounding violation, which the team disagreed with. Then with 18.5 seconds left and Miami trailing by two, the Heat felt Orlando should have been called for the same violation, but the referees granted the Magic a timeout. “That altered the game,” Adebayo said of the five-second violation called on Larsson. “When you alter the game, you should have to, like, stand on that. Because when we mess up, when we make mistakes, when we miss stuff, all hell breaks loose on us. We got people blaming us for everything. And then on the other side, I felt like they had a five-second call that wasn’t called. That altered the game. So you see what I’m getting at? They affect the game in a way where sometimes it does have an effect, and they get to go home and sleep peacefully. And we’re up here talking about a call that you feel like should have been called or not called.” For what it’s worth, the last two minute report said both calls were correct.
- Mitchell’s place in the starting lineup seems secure based on Spoelstra’s recent comments, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. The longtime coach referred to the 27-year-old point guard as “one of our most important guys” and an “elite on-ball defender.” He also complimented Mitchell’s offensive contributions, Winderman writes. “He’s, in many ways, the engine of when we run and we’re at our best and our pace,” Spoelstra said. “Oftentimes, it’s him that’s igniting it and pitching the ball ahead.”
- Fourth-year forward Nikola Jovic, who has been sidelined for 11 consecutive games due to a lower back injury, has been upgraded to probable ahead of Tuesday’s matchup at Charlotte, per Chiang (Twitter link). Andrew Wiggins, who is dealing with sesamoiditis in his left big toe, will miss his sixth straight contest.
- Miami’s recent upswing will be put to the test with a difficult schedule over the next six games, Chiang writes for The Herald. The Heat play at Charlotte, vs. the Lakers, at Houston, vs. San Antonio, and have a pair of road games in Cleveland during that stretch. “Everybody knows what time it is right now. You have to make moves,” Spoelstra said of the race to avoid the play-in tournament. “You have to do something. And we knew that coming out of All-Star break.”
Heat’s Pelle Larsson Reaches Starter Criteria
Heat wing Pelle Larsson made his 41st start of the season on Sunday, which means he has met the starter criteria ahead of potential restricted free agency, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN.
If a player starts at least 41 games or logs at least 2,000 minutes in the season before he reaches restricted free agency – or averages 41 starts or 2,000 minutes during the two seasons prior to free agency – it increases the value of his qualifying offer, as we explain in more detail in a glossary entry.
Miami holds a $2.3MM team option on Larsson for 2026/27. If the team declines it to make him a restricted free agent, the value of Larsson’s qualifying offer would now be $5.91MM, as opposed to $2.66MM.
However, as our Luke Adams wrote a couple weeks ago in a Front Office article, since Larsson is only in his second NBA season, there’s little incentive for the Heat to decline his minimum-salary team option for ’26/27.
If he plays out his full contract, Larsson will still be eligible for restricted free agency next summer, since he’ll only have three years of NBA service at that time. So the Heat can deal with his next contract at that point, or at least negotiate an extension during the ’26/27 league year after they exercise that affordable option.
The 44th overall pick in the 2024 draft, Larsson has emerged as a solid rotation player for Miami in year two, making 54 appearances and averaging 10.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists (against 1.2 turnovers) in 25.1 minutes per game. His shooting slash line is .487/.324/.779.
Heat Notes: Herro, Larsson, Mitchell, Jovic, Smith, Jakucionis
Heat guard Tyler Herro made a triumphant return in Friday’s victory at Atlanta, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. The 2025 All-Star scored a game-high 24 points (on 9-of-14 shooting) in 23 minutes off the bench. He also contributed four rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Head coach Erik Spoelstra indicated that Herro’s reserve role isn’t necessarily permanent, though he was noncommittal about when the 26-year-old might return to the starting lineup.
“Right now we’re just trying to get him out there,” Spoelstra said. “We are going to manage the minutes. I’m not overthinking it, I’m not putting anything in cement, I don’t have a timeline for anything. We’re how many ever games into the season right now and we finally have our full roster. We’re just going to try to maximize these next 25 games as much as possible and we just want everybody just to pour into the team, pour into the role, don’t overthink things at this point.”
Herro had missed Miami’s last 15 games due after fracturing three ribs last month. He wore a flak jacket on Friday and said he’s focused on finishing out the year strong after making just 12 appearances thus far in 2025/26, Chiang writes.
“I just want to get out here and play with the whole team, get comfortable, and just stack some healthy games together,” said Herro, who will be extension-eligible this offseason. “Just try to play a stretch of games where I’m healthy. That’s all that’s on my mind.”
Here’s more from Miami:
- Pelle Larsson has been starting in place of Herro and the second-year Heat wing continued to play well on Friday, Chiang writes in another story. Over his last 14 appearances (28.4 MPG), all starts, Larsson has averaged 12.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 3.5 APG and 0.9 SPG on .567/.300/.791 shooting. “He’s the glue that really can help maximize lineups,” Spoelstra said of Larsson. “Whenever he’s been with that starting unit, it’s been incredibly dynamic. He does all the little things that aren’t seen or not really noticed on the outside, but we notice it. The cuts, the movement, taking charges, running the floor, just moving the basketball, being a ball mover, allowing the scorers to just focus on their strengths.”
- Starting point guard Davion Mitchell is listed as doubtful for Saturday’s game vs. Memphis due to an illness, according to Chiang (Twitter link). Forward Nikola Jovic (low back tightness) and reserve guard Dru Smith (left calf soreness) are questionable to suit up. Mitchell played 27 minutes last night, but Jovic and Smith were out of the rotation, only receiving three garbage-time minutes apiece. Herro (ribs) and Norman Powell (illness) are probable to play on the second of a back-to-back.
- In a Q&A with Cyro Asseo of HoopsHype, first-round pick Kasparas Jakucionis discusses adjusting to the NBA, finding his rhythm in the G League at the beginning of the season, learning from veterans like Mitchell, and more. “Yeah, it’s amazing,” the rookie guard said of the team’s culture. “It’s very similar to how I think things should be in basketball or in life: working hard and trying to win every time. Being together, being hungry every time you step on the court, diving for loose balls, and paying attention to little details. I think that’s what makes the difference.”
Southeast Notes: Larsson, Young, Bane, Johnson
Pelle Larsson has thrived in a starting role for the Heat this season, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald notes. The second-year player has made 26 starts this season and the Heat are 16-10 in those contests.
“We trust Pelle,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said. “Pelle is the guy that we can incorporate him in our starting lineup, and you instantly see the difference. For organizations and players around the league, you want a guy like Pelle. If he gets 15 [points], that just adds to your offense. But you know what he’s bringing day in, day out.”
Head coach Erik Spoelstra says Larsson keeps the offense humming by playing within his role.
“Pelle helps our offense so much,” Spoelstra said. “This kind of style that I’m talking about, like Pelle helps everybody because he cuts when you need to cut, he spaces with energy, he drives it hard, he runs hard. He does all the things that keep the engine of our offense going.”
The Heat hold a $2.3MM club option on Larsson’s contract for next season, which becomes guaranteed on opening night.
We have more on the Southeast Division:
- Heat two-way player Jahmir Young has been named the NBA G League Player of the Week for games played between Jan. 19-25, according to the league (Twitter link). Young averaged 32.3 points, 10.3 assists and 2.3 steals in three games last week for the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
- Magic guard Desmond Bane has changed representation, Orlando Sentinel beat reporter Jason Beede tweets. He will now be represented by Glushon Sports Management — the same agency that represents Franz Wagner and Moritz Wagner. Bane, who is in the second year of a five-year, $197.2MM contract, was previously repped by Gersh Basketball.
- The Athletic’s Mirin Fader takes an in-depth look at how Hawks wing Jalen Johnson worked his way into an All-Star level player. He’s averaging 23.0 points, 10.4 rebounds and 7.9 assists this season as the team’s new franchise cornerstone.