Miami Heat insider Ira Winderman offered some interesting insight into how rookies Pelle Larsson and Kel’el Ware may fit into the roster in the 2024-25 season.
Winderman responded to a reader’s question about how head coach Erik Spoelstra may use the two-man game between Larsson and Ware from Summer League in the regular season.
“Sure, but perhaps only during practice,” Winderman wrote. “With the Heat in win-now mode amid what could potentially be Jimmy Butler’s final season under contract, this remains a team, at least for now, living in the moment. But that’s fine, too, with plenty of time down the road for Kel’el and Pelle to fully become an item. Summer league showed a unique bond between the Heat’s 2024 draft picks. Now there is plenty of time to grow that on the NBA level.”
The Heat won the title in Summer League thanks to Larsson’s game-winning floater against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Both Larsson and Ware played well in the final, something that has to excite the Heat and their fans.
A second-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Larsson finished with 16 points (7-for-9 shooting from the field, 1-for-2 from 3), three rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block in the win.
Ware, Miami’s first-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, may have been even better, scoring 21 points (on 8-of-10 shooting) while picking up 10 rebounds and a block.
The two rookies showed some serious chemistry on the court during the summer, but Winderman appears to be cautioning that they may not play as much together on a Heat team looking to compete for a title.
Ware likely has a more direct path to minutes than Larsson given Miami’s lack of depth behind Bam Adebayo. At the guard spot, Josh Richardson exercised his player option and the Heat signed veteran Alec Burks this offseason, which could limit Larsson’s chances.
However, the Heat have dealt with a lot of guard injuries in past seasons, including the 2023-24 campaign when Richardson, Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier all went down for extended periods with injuries.
Larsson really picked up his play later in Summer League, partially due to a speech from Heat legend Udonis Haslem. The second-round pick ended up averaging 15.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game over his final four games of the summer and shot an impressive 51.2 percent from the field and 46.2 percent from beyond the arc during that stretch.
Last season, young players like Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic made major impacts for the Heat, so it’s not impossible for Ware and Larsson to do the same in the 2024-25 season.
Still, Winderman is pumping the brakes on the expectations for the rookies with Miami still in win-now mode.