Coming off an NBA Finals appearance, it was a mystery what the Miami Heat were going to do in the 2020 NBA Draft. Were they going to trade back, trade for a star or use the pick on a player they liked?
Miami ended up using their pick to select Memphis forward Precious Achiuwa with the 20th notch in the draft. The Heat are notorious for finding draft steals, and after an impressive start, Precious has the NBA and its community asking: Did the Heat find another?
College Production
Out of high school, the 6’9, 215-pound forward was ranked as a five-star prospect by 247 Sports (15th overall) and ESPN (17th overall). Along with consensus No. 1 prospect James Wiseman, Achiuwa attended the University of Memphis. In his lone season there, Achiuwa averaged 15.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.9 blocks per game. Achiuwa was named the 2019/2020 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and the 2019/2020 AAC Rookie of the Year. Additionally, he was also named to the All-AAC Team and the AAC All-Freshman Team.
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NBA Translation
Through six games in the NBA, Achiuwa is averaging 7.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 0.5 assists over 15.7 minutes per game. He has hit the ground running. With his 11-point performance against New Orleans on Christmas Day, some media members already spoke about Achiuwa being a steal. He’s reached double figures in three of six games– a good sign for someone whose main knock was thought to be scoring.
Among rookies, Precious ranks 12th in PPG and sixth in RPG, yet he is 21st in minutes per game. Additionally, among qualified rookies (min. 10 FGA), Achiuwa leads the pack in field-goal percentage with 60% (18/30). He has been very effective in his limited playing time, and as his minutes increase, his stats should as well. With no NCAA tournament and no NBA Summer League due to COVID-19, Achiuwa’s early-season performance is very promising.
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Mentorship
Being an athletic big man who is undersized, Precious has an amazing mentor in Bam Adebayo. Almost an exact replica of height and wingspan, it seems that the Heat may have found themselves Bam 2.0. Adebayo has even mentioned that he believes Achiuwa reminds him of himself, and that he believes Precious will be better than him as a rookie. Moreover, Achiuwa has another great mentor in Heat legend Udonis Haslem.
Precious is exactly what Coach Spoelstra wants in a player. The Heat switch a lot on defense, and Achiuwa is a versatile defender who can guard those smaller and bigger than him. The combination of mentorship, culture and Coach Spo should allow him to thrive. Did the Miami Heat get another draft steal? As of now, the answer seems to be yes.
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