Precious Achiuwa Earns All-Rookie Honors

After falling to the Miami Heat at 20th overall in the 2020 NBA Draft, Precious Achiuwa finds himself as the new face in Miami’s locker room this season and will make a major impact from Day 1. Bam Adebayo getting hurt in the NBA Finals last year greatly hindered Miami’s chances of winning a title due to the fact that they did not have another reliable, strong froncourt option.

Achiuwa was a five-star recruit that was not talked about enough initially at Memphis because he was overshadowed by the second-overall pick in this year’s draft, James Wiseman. After Wiseman was deemed ineligible by the NCAA early in the season, Precious Achiuwa quickly became Memphis’ best player and one of the nation’s top big men. 

In 31 games with the Tigers, Achiuwa averaged 15.8 points and 10.8 rebounds, making him the 2019-20 AAC Player of the Year. He is a high-motor, pick-and-roll oriented big man who could potentially be a lot like reigning Sixth Man of the Year, Montrezl Harrell. Achiuwa does have the ability to extend his game out to the perimeter, but is mainly an athletic big man in the paint who relies on his athleticism rather than positioning on the court.

He will likely spend time at both the power-forward and center position this upcoming season with the Miami Heat and will be another big body rebounder next to Bam Adeobayo who should solidify himself as a key player in the Heat’s rotation. Miami has had a lot of success over the years with getting rookies involved early on in their careers and Precious Achiuwa will be no exception. 

Expect to see Achiuwa possibly work his way into the starting lineup around mid-season and be a factor for the Heat against bigger teams in the NBA.