MIAMI (AP) — Pelle Larsson and the Miami Heat have agreed on a four-year contract extension that could be worth up to $60 million if the final year of the deal is included, a person with knowledge of the talks said Friday.
Larsson's starting salary for 2027-28 will be $13.5 million and increase from there, with a mutual option for the 2030-31 season, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the contract remains unsigned.
Larsson was a second-round pick, No. 44 overall, by Houston in 2024 before his rights were sent to Miami as part of a three-team trade. He quickly became a key part of Heat coach Erik Spoelstra's rotation, playing in 55 games as a rookie and 70 games — starting 54 of them — this past season.
The shooting guard who played collegiately at Utah and Arizona averaged 4.6 points on 44% shooting as a rookie and 11.4 points per game last season while making nearly 50% of his shots.
The Heat have raved about his development, including his play this summer for his native Sweden in World Cup qualifying games. Larsson averaged 26 points in four qualifiers for Sweden, with a pair of 31-point games against Slovenia and Finland.
The 25-year-old Larsson is scheduled to earn $2.3 million this season. He could have been a restricted free agent next summer had the sides not struck a deal.
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FILE - Miami Heat guard Pelle Larsson (9) drives against Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel during the second half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond,File)
NEW YORK (AP) — They're off and running at the new Belmont Park, as horse racing returned Friday following a three-year absence for a $550 million reconstruction project that modernized the historic track.
Fans in the sellout crowd of 6,000 cheered before a field of 10 left the starting gate just after 1:30 p.m. at the home of the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown. Lisa Joy, a filly ridden by jockey Antonio Fresu, won the first race there since July 9, 2023.
“It’s an amazing feeling to be part of this historical track and historical reopening of Belmont Park,” Fresu said afterward. “They seem to be doing a tremendous job. The track is fantastic. The grandstand looks fantastic, all the facilities, so I’m really, really happy to be part of it.”
The new facility is futuristic and white, a departure from the massive brick grandstand that occupied the space from 1968 until its demolition. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul before a ribbon- cutting ceremony in the expanded paddock area called it the start of a whole new era of racing in a state that has Belmont Park on the border of Queens and Long Island to go with venerable Saratoga Race Course upstate.
“With the new Belmont Park, New York enters into a league of its own,” Hochul said. “All eyes of the racing world are on this place. Everybody’s paying attention to what we’re unveiling here."
For now, the first two floors are open to the public while work is completed on the third, fourth and fifth in time for the spring. They are expected to be ready for the Wood Memorial, a key prep race for the Kentucky Derby that takes place in early April.
"We’ll show off the whole facility that day," New York Racing Association President and CEO David O'Rourke told The Associated Press. "The bones are here. Now we’re going to flesh this out."
The Belmont Stakes returns June 5 after a three-year run at Saratoga. The Breeders' Cup is back next fall, with the sport's world championship weekend taking place in New York for the first time since 2005.
“If you build it, we will come,” said Dora Delgado, the Breeders' Cup executive vice president and chief racing officer. “We knew they had the capability. They knew what we needed from a facility, so it was just perfect."
Delgado likened the new Belmont Park to Ascot Racecourse in England and what Arlington Park outside Chicago used to look like before closing in 2021.
"It’s state of the art," Delgado said. “They have created something here that’s just astonishing, and it’s a first for New York racing to have this kind of facility.”
Fresu called the track one of the best turf courses he had ever ridden on. Hall of Fame Trainer Shug McGaughey, who won Races 1 and 2, made sure he got in the winner's circle photo after the first because it was a piece of history.
“It’s a beautiful place,” McGaughey said. “It’s different than what I expected. ... It’s a lot more modern than old Belmont.”
Country artist Dierks Bentley performed as part of the celebration and told fans he was betting on the Japanese horse in the headline race, the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup. That horse from Japan is Forever Young, the reigning Breeders' Cup Classic champion who blew away the competition in impressive fashion.
“Hats off to the operations team,” O'Rourke said. “I don’t think my folks have slept the last two weeks. We pulled off a big race, a big day. I can’t be more thrilled.”
In this photo made with a smartphone, jockeys ride their horses into the newly-opened Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephen Whyno)
In this photo made with a smartphone, jockeys ride their horses into the newly-opened Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephen Whyno)
