After taking long road of development, Pelle Larsson leaving Arizona as projected second-round NBA Draft pick

The departing Arizona senior wing actually took his time, and his place in line, while turning into what might be the Wildcats’ best NBA prospect for the June NBA Draft. So much so that his announcement this week that he was leaving UA was actually the least surprising departure of any Wildcat with eligibility remaining this spring.

“A skilled prospect from Sweden with a modern skillset,” was how Sports Illustrated’s Draft Digest described Larsson recently, while Bleacher Report, The Ringer and The Athletic all project Larsson as a mid-second-round pick.

It took a while for Larsson to draw that sort of attention. He arrived at Utah to become a part-time starter as a freshman in 2020-21, then transferred to play a reserve role for Tommy Lloyd’s first Arizona team in 2021-22 behind NBA Draft picks Bennedict Mathurin and Dalen Terry.

He became the Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year on a team that won Pac-12 regular-season and conference tournament titles that season but, after starting for the first half of his junior season in 2022-23, volunteered to come off the bench partly in order to boost the confidence of then-senior transfer Cedric Henderson.

“I’m gonna give Pelle Larsson a ton of credit,” Lloyd said after the Wildcats started 3-0 with the new lineup, at Washington State in late January 2023. “This wasn’t a reprimand or demotion. I just felt our bench needed something a little more consistent, and he gives us some versatility.

“If this can help out both those guys and ultimately it helps out the team, I feel like it was the right decision.”

The Wildcats went on to win the 2022-23 Pac-12 Tournament and secured a No. 2 NCAA Tournament seed before losing to Princeton in the first round.

After that season was over, Larsson quietly entered the NBA Draft and was invited to the G League Elite Camp, but didn’t participate and withdrew from the draft pool.

Now, he’s in a much different spot. After filling box scores and defending just about anybody while the Wildcats won a final Pac-12 regular-season title last season, Larsson rates No. 45 on ESPN’s list of top 100 NBA Draft prospects.

“Versatile offensive role player who goes hard on defense and has the upside to be even more,” wrote The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor about Larsson, projecting him to go No. 43 to Houston.

While Larsson played mostly small and sometimes power forward at Arizona, he is drawing praise for his abilities in the pick-and-roll and capable ballhandling that suggests he can at least be a secondary point guard.

“Larsson has positional size and is efficient in the pick-and-roll both as a driver and playmaker,” SI’s Draft Digest wrote. “Additionally, he is capable of attacking closeouts and his biggest X-factor is his catch-and-shoot 3s. He’s emerged as a much more consistent shooter off-ball and on the move, which is why talent evaluators should feel optimistic about his perimeter shot translating to the NBA.”

Jonathan Wasserman of the Bleacher Report, projecting Larsson to go 40th, compared him to Denver guard Christian Braun, who is known for his unselfishness, savvy offensive play and ability to guard multiple positions.

Draft Digest said Larsson does an “excellent job” of creating for others off closeouts or finishing at the rim if he has space, while O’Connor cited multiple offensive skills.

Larsson is a “knockdown shooter off the catch, especially when he’s left open, so he could feast playing alongside star-level talent,” O’Connor wrote for The Ringer. “He’s one of the best in the draft at using pump fakes to attack closeouts and then scoring on aggressive downhill attacks and pull-up jumpers. He’s a capable passer in those situations, too.”

O’Connor also cited Larsson’s hustle and feel within an offense, finding ways to efficiently cut to the rim and reliably creating shots out of pick-and-rolls, while saying he’s also a “stout defender” who fights through screens and plays with strong fundamentals.

However, O’Connor wrote that Larsson needs to develop a faster release to be able to get off shots in the NBA, while Wasserman noted his offensive and defensive lapses in UA’s season-ending loss to Clemson in the Sweet 16. Larsson had just eight points on 2-for-9 shooting against the Tigers.

“The timing was poor,” Wasserman wrote in the Bleacher Report. “But Larsson had been highly reliable all season, finishing at 42.6% from 3-point range and 47.2% on pull-ups with 3.7 assists and highly efficient pick-and-roll and transition play. Teams could see a plug-and-play wing with Larsson if this year’s improved shooting wasn’t fluky.”

Though he actually shot 46.3% from 3-point range at Utah in 2020-21, Larsson took twice as many long-range shots this season (108) and hit them at a 42.6% rate. That was the best mark among the regular Wildcat shooters; reserve guard Jaden Bradley hit 46.4% but took less than one 3-pointer per game.

Larsson may have especially opened scouts’ eyes especially after he scored a then-career-high 21 points in UA’s 98-73 win over Wisconsin on Dec. 9, hitting all six shots he took, including four from 3-point range, while dishing four assists without a turnover.

League Him, a scouting-oriented media site, posted a Larsson highlight video from that game that it titled “Most Underrated Player in CBB? Pelle Larsson leads Arizona over Wisconsin in Top 25 Clash.”

At the same time, the Wisconsin game also created one of several top memories Larsson will likely be taking with him this spring. Told beforehand of Wisconsin’s long pattern of handing the Wildcats painful losses, most notably in back-to-back Elite Eight games during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 season, Larsson reflected on that after the game.

“We play for the city and the school every night,” he said, “but this one was for sure special because of the history.”

Maybe it was no surprise, then, that Larsson’s farewell post included a long list of thanks — to Arizona staffers, coaches, teammates, managers, trainers, doctors, media and equipment manager Brian Brigger, along with other support staffers.

“These past years have been some of the best of my life,” Larsson posted. “Tucson, and the McKale Center, will always have a special place in my heart. I am extremely grateful to Tommy Lloyd for bringing me to Arizona to play with incredible teammates and win championships. I am proud to call myself a Wildcat for life.”