The Miami Heat were back at it Thursday as they made their second round selection with the 44rd overall after a trade awap with the Atlanta Hawks as the pick ended up being Pelle Larsson out of the University of Arizona. Besides himself, Heat Assistant General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Adam Simon spoke after the conclusion of the NBA Draft to talk about Larsson and even said that he has been a “player we've been watching for years.”
“Pelle [Larsson] is player we've been watching for years,” Simon said. “We've done a lot of work with Coach Lloyd out in Arizona, both for him and Keshad actually, we were very high on both of those guys. And I think Larsson what he shows us is well rounded, versatile player. With 38 inch vertical, big hands, has a little bit of an edge to him. And we thought he would already fit in here with his versatility, obviously his ability to shoot and a defensive mindset. So for us it was obviously we had him as the top player on our board when we went to pick and it so happened that we had an opportunity to swap one spot and for us, we got the same player we would have had 43 to pick 44 and we made that decision to pick them at 44.”
Simon calls Larsson a “versatile” player that fits with the Heat
While the Heat selected big-man Kel'el Ware in the first round, they went with Larsson in the second who brings not just dynamite shooting, but also immense intensity on defense which just screams a player the Heat would like on their team. Simon would go in detail about what made Larsson an attractive pick for Miami, citing him as “versatile.”
“Just the just the way he moves, he gets around the court easily,” Simon said. “I mean, that's important to have that type of skill set where he can shoot, handle, he'll rebound, he'll come up with a deflection and he steals. Like I said earlier, versatile player that really moves well, has some some quick twitch, some good elevation pop to his game. So it's just a matter of developing his base of his skill set. And I think he'll be able to fit in and lots of different roles.”
Larsson touts his tenacity which impressed the Heat
Larsson spent four seasons in college where the first was with Utah and the last three were part of the aforementioned Arizona squad where he showed his skills that impressed Miami. Last season with the Wildcats, he averaged 12.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 51.9 percent from the field and 42.6 percent from the three-point line as he told ClutchPoints what Heat fans should expect from him.
“I think I've shown the people in Tucson, Arizona just how hard I play for a team that's on my jersey and the pride I have every time I step on a court,” Larsson said. “Whatever the role might be, whatever the minutes I mean, I'm going to just do what's best for the team and that's what you're going to see from me, a guy that can do a little bit of everything, shoot the ball really well and play really hard.”
“I had good conversations with them during the draft process,” Larsson when talking about speaking with the Heat. “I went to work out there and it was a good time, I loved everybody was there taking care of me, I think most of all, the Heat just [has] very well rounded players and that have long careers and and they can do a lot of things and similar players to me, there are great shooters and and I'm just excited to implement that to my daily routines in my practice.”
Larsson will be formerly introduced along with the Heat's first round pick in Ware Friday afternoon. Miami is looking to improve after a 46-36 record which put them at the eighth seed for the second straight season.
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