Dain Dainja Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat Waive Achiuwa, Three Others; Convert Young To Two-Way Deal

October 18th, 2025 at 12:45pm CST by Rory Maher

October 18: Miami has officially announced the four cuts detailed below, along with Young’s conversion to a two-way deal.

October 17: The Heat have waived big man Precious Achiuwa ahead of the regular season, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link).

Miami has also released Ethan Thompson, Dain Dainja, and Bez Mbeng, Chiang adds.

All four players were signed to non-guaranteed contracts for training camp, so the Heat won’t carry any money on their books by cutting them loose.

A 6’8″ forward/center, Achiuwa has spent the past five years in the NBA after being selected 20th overall by Miami in the 2020 draft. The 26-year-old has appeared in 320 regular season games with the Heat, Raptors and Knicks over that span, with career averages of 7.6 points and 5.7 rebounds in 20.0 minutes per contest.

It’s unclear where Achiuwa will land next after he was unable to find a new team for most of the offseason — he didn’t sign with the Heat until late September.

Thompson, Dainja and Mbeng were on Exhibit 10 deals with Miami are now eligible for bonuses worth up to $85,300 as long as they spend at least 60 days with the team’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

By process of elimination, it appears that guard Jahmir Young will fill the Heat’s third and final two-way spot, as Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets. The Heat can simply convert Young’s Exhibit 10 deal to a two-way pact and intend to do so, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

A 6’1″ point guard who went undrafted out of Maryland in 2024, Young opened his first professional season with the Grand Rapids Gold, before signing a two-way deal with Chicago in February and finishing the year with the Bulls.

Although he logged just 30 total minutes in six games at the NBA level, but starred in the NBAGL, averaging 21.7 points, 7.0 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game in 43 total outings for the Nuggets’ and Bulls’ affiliates. The 24-year-old was named to the G League’s All-Rookie team and finished third in Rookie of the Year voting.

Heat Sign Four Players To Exhibit 10 Contracts

September 11th, 2025 at 4:41pm CST by Luke Adams

The Heat have filled out their 21-man offseason roster by signing guards Jahmir Young, Gabe Madsen, and Trevor Keels, as well as forward Dain Dainja, the team announced today in a press release.

All four players signed Exhibit 10 contracts, per Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (subscription required). The expectation is that they’ll compete for a two-way contract in training cap, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

Although he logged just 30 total minutes in six games at the NBA level, Young starred in the NBAGL, averaging 21.7 points, 7.0 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game in 43 total outings for the Nuggets’ and Bulls’ affiliates. The 24-year-old was named to the G League’s All-Rookie team and finished third in Rookie of the Year voting.

Madsen spent the past four years playing for the University of Utah. In his final college season in 2024/25, the 6’6″ guard averaged 15.2 PPG, 2.6 RPG, and 2.5 APG in 29.7 MPG, with a .371/.322/.854 shooting line.

Those subpar shooting numbers were uncharacteristic for Madsen, who had made 38.2% of his career three-point tries prior to last season. He showed off his long-range ability while playing for the Warriors’ Summer League team, averaging 9.2 PPG with a .519 3PT% in just 14.0 MPG across six appearances.

Keels was the No. 42 overall pick in the 2022 draft, but appeared in just three games as a rookie for the Knicks and has been out of the NBA since then, with the exception of a couple preseason Exhibit 10 deals. A 6’5″ guard who suited up for the Pistons at this year’s Las Vegas Summer League, Keels has spent the past two seasons with the Iowa Wolves in the G League. In 2024/25, he averaged 19.8 PPG, 3.8 APG, and 3.3 RPG on .440/.369/.786 shooting in 46 contests for Iowa.

Dainja went undrafted out of Memphis this June. The 6’9″ forward averaged 14.6 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 1.7 APG, and 1.3 BPG in 27.2 MPG across 35 outings (19 starts) as a senior. He was productive in a modest role for Miami’s Summer League team in July, averaging 9.2 PPG and 2.6 RPG in just 13.4 MPG (five games).

The Heat’s agreements with Madsen and Young were previously reported. The team was also said to have a deal in place with undrafted rookie Steve Settle III, but that agreement either fell through or won’t be completed until closer to the season for G League purposes.

Miami is carrying 12 players on fully guaranteed contracts, two (Terry Rozier and Pelle Larsson) on partially guaranteed deals, a pair (Vladislav Goldin and Myron Gardner) on two-way contracts, and five on Exhibit 10 pacts — Ethan Thompson is the other player on an Exhibit 10 deal.

While there’s ostensibly just one two-way spot open for the training camp invitees on Exhibit 10 contracts, the Heat wouldn’t face any sort of cap penalty for waiving Goldin or Gardner if they decide they want to convert more than one of those camp invitees to two-way deals.