“I know he’s on this roster for a reason” said Jimmy Butler a few weeks ago, when discussing Pelle Larrson.

The ongoing regular season has seen several rookies like Dalton Knecht and Jared McCain making a mark for themselves for their franchises. Pelle Larrson hasn’t been that far behind in that regard. Though the 5.9 points he has averaged till now aren’t too impressive, the player is showing major improvement, which ultimately lead to him dropping his career-high score against the Dallas Mavericks. For Jimmy Butler, it was nothing short of déjà vu.

In the aftermath of the Heat-Mavericks matchup, Butler engaged in a Q&A session with a few media members. One of them asked the star player about Pelle’s increase in minutes, and what it meant to him personally. Butler sent his flowers to the rookie by highlighting how Pelle has taken it upon himself to adopt every role on the court.

From shooting and handling to finishing and guarding, the rookie may score occasionally, but he looks to spread himself across the court. This is what makes Butler feel that head coach Erik Spoelstra will not look to benching him too much.

“I always see him in early, leaving late,” said Butler. “And honestly, he reminds me of myself whenever I was younger in this league. He could probably shoot the ball a lot better than I could though.”