Precious Achiuwa Rumors

Southeast Notes: Magic Rotation, Suggs, Achiuwa, Knueppel

October 11th, 2025 at 11:03am CST by Rory Maher

Free agent addition Tyus Jones and trade acquisition Desmond Bane started their second straight preseason game on Friday for the Magic, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. The veteran guards were once again paired with mainstays Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr.

Head coach Jamahl Mosley praised Carter after the 26-year-old big man accumulated 20 points, 13 rebounds and three assists in 21 minutes during the 30-point victory over Philadelphia, Beede notes.

“The work that he continues to put in, his presence around that rim, his presence on the floor, his demeanor, it changes the way we play,” Mosley said about Carter. “When he plays with that presence, that poise and that strength for our team, it goes such a long way.”

According to Beede, the first five players of the bench for Orlando were Anthony Black, Jase Richardson, Jett Howard, Tristan Da Silva and Goga Bitadze. The Magic selected four of those players in the first round of the past three drafts, with Bitadze being the lone exception.

Here are a few more notes from around the Southeast Division:

While president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said a couple weeks ago that the Magic were targeting opening night for Jalen Suggs‘ return from the left knee injury that has sidelined him since January, the team continues to take a cautious approach to his recovery. Mosley said before Friday’s contest that Suggs has done a limited amount of contact work to this point, according to Beede. “We’re slowly ramping him up,” Mosley said. “I think he’s different in the sense that how he responds to what we do on a day-to-day [basis]. He’s been in some 5-on-0, does that, not much contact in situations. But slowly trying to bake him in there. As we go on the next couple weeks, we’ll be able to see and tell more from that.”
Forward/center Precious Achiuwa went unsigned for most of the offseason before agreeing to a non-guaranteed training camp deal with the Heat in late September. Achiuwa, who was drafted by Miami and spent his rookie year with the team before being traded to Toronto in the 2021 offseason, said he’s happy to be back with his first NBA team, as Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald relays. “I think there’s some unfinished business,” Achiuwa said of returning to the Heat. “Just the culture of the Miami Heat kind of fits the way I play. A lot of tenacity, a lot of intensity. So I feel right at home here.”
Brandon Miller has been impressed with fellow wing Kon Knueppel during training camp and preseason, per Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. “Definitely a great competitor,” Miller said of Knueppel. “He’s going to have a great career in this league. I’m rooting. We’re going to be right there behind him, supporting him as he continues to get better every day. So, hats off to him for coming in with the most confidence, just continue to have that confidence and that competitive spirit. You can’t ask for much more from him.” Miller was the No. 2 overall pick of the 2023 draft, while Knueppel was selected fourth overall in June.

Heat Notes: Powell, Achiuwa, Rozier, Smith, Scouts

September 30th, 2025 at 10:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Forward Norman Powell had the best season of his career with the Clippers, but wasn’t selected for the All-Star Game. Traded to the Heat during the offseason, Powell enters this season with extra motivation, he told Marc J. Spears of Andscape.

“I definitely have a chip from feeling like I could have made it,” Powell said. “I should have made it last [season]. It added fuel to the fire this summer on how I am going to capitalize on this [season], that I have to make sure that I’m a surefire pick for an All-Star selection. Finding out that it is in L.A. would definitely be a little punch there to make it. To play All-Star Weekend in Intuit would be amazing. But yeah, I’m definitely excited about the opportunity to go at it again and have a chance to finally get selected.”

We have more on the Heat:

Terry Rozier had the worst season of his career last year and fell out of the rotation. The veteran guard, who has one year left on his contract, comes into this season with something to prove. “I don’t know (why things went sour),” he told Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “I was being a human. I’m glad I can still play basketball and do what I love and ready for a turnaround this season.”
Dru Smith has endured major injuries during his career, most recently an Achilles tear. Yet he was re-signed in the offseason, in part because of the resiliency he’s shown, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. “What he has is a superpower. I wish you could take some of that and just apply it to other players,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked about Smith’s participation in practice less than a year after tearing his Achilles. “When I say superpower or superpowers, it’s a level of grit, it’s a level of fortitude, perseverance. However, you want to describe it, he has no quit in him.”
Big man Precious Achiuwa signed as a free agent on a one-year contract and indicated that familiarity played a role, Miami Heat Spain tweets. He played with Miami during his rookie season. “It was a pretty easy decision because of how well this organization represents the type of player that I am. I also took into account the high competitive level of Spo, I want to forge myself around that,” he said.
A couple of unnamed scouts gave their evaluations of Achiuwa and the Heat’s young players to Jackson, including whether Achiuwa was a better option than some of the other free agent big men the front office looked at.

Heat Sign Precious Achiuwa To One-Year Deal

September 25th, 2025 at 4:06pm CST by Dana Gauruder

September 25: Miami has signed Achiuwa, the team announced in press release. In a corresponding move, Gabe Madsen has been waived, per the Heat.

September 24: The Heat have agreed to a one-year contract with big man Precious Achiuwa, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports (via Twitter). It’s a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary deal, according to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald (Twitter link).

Achiuwa was one of the top remaining frontcourt players on the free agent market. He appeared in 57 games with the Knicks last season, including 10 starts, and averaged 6.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in 20.5 minutes per night. Achiuwa also saw limited minutes in eight postseason games.

Miami’s interest in signing him was reported earlier this month.

It’s the second stint for Achiuwa in the Heat organization. They drafted him with the No. 20 overall pick in 2020 and he played 61 games as a rookie.

Miami then traded him to Toronto in a deal that sent Kyle Lowry to the Heat. He played two-and-a-half seasons with the Raptors before getting traded to the Knicks during the 2023/24 season.

Achiuwa will provide depth at the power forward and center spots, assuming he makes the 15-man roster. Miami had a full camp roster and will have to shed a player to make the signing official.

If Achiuwa does stick with the Heat for the regular season, the team’s salary would move slightly above the luxury tax line. However, since luxury tax penalties are based on salaries at the end of the season, Miami would have until the trade deadline to duck back below that threshold.

Southeast Notes: Wizards, Beverley, Young, Achiuwa, Herro

September 25th, 2025 at 8:37am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Wizards’ expectations for the upcoming season remain modest. It’s all about player development and growth, not wins.

“Roster-wise, we’re still in the early stages of the rebuild,” general manager Will Dawkins told the media on Wednesday, per Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network (Twitter link). “This offseason we decided to lean into the youth movement more… we like the unpredictability and the competition it’s going to bring.”

Washington is coming off an 18-64 season and it’s going to be a slow climb to get back to respectability. The Wizards will have to convey their first-round pick to the Knicks if it falls out of the top eight, giving them even more incentive to keep their win total low.

“We will not skip steps,” Dawkins said, per Varun Shankar of the Washington Post. “We will not take shortcuts.”

The Wizards have 13 players under the age of 25 and they’ll battle for playing time.

“We do not have the same level of experience or established players as we’ve had in the previous [seasons], which is fine,” Dawkins said. “We do, however, have depth. And I know we like the unpredictability and the competition that we think it’s going to breed. So for us, we view the upcoming season as a season of opportunity.”

Here’s more from the Southeast Division:

Former NBA guard Patrick Beverley ripped Hawks star guard Trae Young on a podcast, stating “I’ve talked to people who played in Atlanta. They don’t wanna play there. Why? They don’t think he’s a good leader. They don’t think he’s a good teammate. You can make all the money you want. You can have all the leading assists you want. You can do all that. If you don’t win, that s— won’t matter. If you don’t win, when you retire they’re gonna forget your name.” Young offered this response, per The Athletic’s John Hollinger: “You don’t know what it’s like to be in my position, you don’t know what it’s like to put my shoes on. The numbers generate the way they do. But I promise you — there’s not a selfish bone in my body.”
Precious Achiuwa agreed to a one-year contract with the Heat. It’s a non-guaranteed deal and comes with a $2.3MM cap hit not becoming fully guaranteed until Jan. 10. The addition of Achiuwa adds some much-needed size to the Heat’s roster, joining Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware as the only centers on Miami’s standard roster, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald notes. At least in the short term, the move does not have an impact regarding Terry Rozier, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel tweets. Rozier is guaranteed $24.9MM this season on his $26.6MM salary — waiving him would bring Miami under the luxury tax.
Tyler Herro will not be ready for the start of the season after undergoing ankle surgery. How will the Heat replace him in the short term? Davion Mitchell will likely move into the starting lineup alongside offseason acquisition Norman Powell, who figures to have a prominent role offensively with Herro sidelined, according to Chiang. Pelle Larsson could see more minutes and even Rozier could force his way into the mix with a strong training camp.

Heat Notes: 2026, Rozier, Achiuwa, Settle, Young

September 11th, 2025 at 10:33pm CST by Luke Adams

While the idea of opening up cap room in 2026 was once a goal for the Heat, that’s no longer the case, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald, who notes that several potential marquee ’26 free agents have signed contract extensions that will keep them off the market.

The Heat still want to maintain flexibility going forward, but that will likely be more about having room below the luxury tax line than creating cap space, Jackson explains.

Outlining what it would look like for Miami to operate either over or under the 2026/27 cap, Jackson points out that generating a meaningful chunk of cap room would likely require the club to part ways with both Andrew Wiggins and Norman Powell. Operating over the cap appears to be the more “prudent” path for the Heat next summer, Jackson concludes.

Here’s more on the Heat:

After reporting earlier this week that the Heat have been in contact with Precious Achiuwa and have mulled the idea of waiving Terry Rozier, Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (subscription required) digs a little deeper into that subject, exploring why Miami has considered that path. As Winderman details, Rozier is a potential bounce-back candidate and may be a better player than Achiuwa in a vacuum, but the veteran guard could also end up buried on a crowded backcourt depth chart, whereas the team has a more pressing need up front.
Although the Heat’s training camp won’t formally get underway until the week of September 29, several players are already back on the practice court at Kaseya Center for drills, Winderman writes within a look at the team’s roster. Winderman confirms in the same story that Miami – which currently has a full 21-man roster – is still expected to sign undrafted rookie free agent Steve Settle to an Exhibit 10 contract at some point before the regular season, as previously reported.
The Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s G League affiliate, acquired Jahmir Young‘s returning rights from the Grand Rapids Gold in a three-team trade that sent Bryson Warren‘s rights to the Westchester Knicks and Moses Brown‘s rights to the Gold (the Nuggets‘ affiliate), per a press release. Young was one of four players who signed Exhibit 10 contracts with the Heat on Thursday, so if he’s waived before the season and then decides to play in the G League, the Skyforce would have his rights.

Heat In Contact With Precious Achiuwa

September 8th, 2025 at 12:04pm CST by Luke Adams

12:04pm: According to Jackson’s source, the Heat have not made a contract offer to Achiuwa due to their proximity to the luxury tax but expressed a possible interest in doing so in the future.

Jackson hears that Achiuwa “would welcome” a return to Miami, noting that the Nigerian big man still has a home in the area. The Heat will remain in contact with Achiuwa, who has received interest from “several other teams,” Jackson adds.

10:49am: The Heat have been engaged in ongoing discussions with free agent forward/center Precious Achiuwa, reports Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (subscription required). According to Winderman, Achiuwa is one of multiple big men the team has been in touch with as it considers ways to upgrade its frontcourt rotation.

As Winderman details, Bam Adebayo has expressed a desire not to play significant minutes at the five, but Miami doesn’t have many other established options in the middle, with second-year center Kel’el Ware and rookie two-way big man Vladislav Goldin among the only alternatives. Nikola Jovic and Keshad Johnson are other frontcourt candidates for the Heat, but both are somewhat undersized for the center spot.

Reports last month indicated that the Heat were considering free agent big men, including Kai Jones and Trey Lyles. Former Heat center Thomas Bryant also remains unsigned, Winderman notes, though the club’s level of interest in him is unclear.

While Miami currently has an open spot on its projected 15-man regular season roster, adding a 15th man on a minimum-salary contract would push the team’s salary over the luxury tax line. As a result, the front office has considered the idea of waiving Terry Rozier, Winderman writes.

Buyout talks with Rozier haven’t gained any traction, Winderman clarifies, but the guard’s $26.64MM salary isn’t quite fully guaranteed — Rozier’s partial guarantee is worth $24.92MM, so waiving him would generate about $1.72MM in extra cap flexibility, which would give the Heat enough room below the tax line to replace him with a new 14th man.

According to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter links), the idea of cutting Rozier has been discussed “a lot” internally, but there are other pathways the Heat could take. Waiting until December, when a prorated veteran’s minimum contract would fit under the tax line, is one possibility.

Miami could also temporarily exceed the tax line by signing a 15th man now, then duck back below the tax by waiving Rozier on or before January 7, since his partial guarantee won’t increase at all by then. However, as Winderman points out, if Rozier were to suffer a season-ending injury, the Heat would be required to pay his full salary, which would mean they’d need to find another way to get out of tax territory.

Achiuwa, who will turn 26 later this month, began his career with the Heat as the No. 20 overall pick in 2020. He was sent to the Raptors as part of the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade during the 2021 offseason and has spent the past season-and-a-half with the Knicks after being traded from Toronto to New York along with OG Anunoby in December 2023.

Achiuwa is a bit undersized for a center and isn’t a threat as an outside shooter, but he’s an athletic, high-energy player who rebounds well and is a versatile, switchable defender. In 57 games in 2024/25, he averaged 6.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 20.5 minutes per contest, with a .502/.278/.594 shooting line.

Precious Achiuwa Reportedly Drawing Interest From Panathinaikos

August 1st, 2025 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Having failed to land Jonas Valanciunas last month, the Greek club Panathinaikos remains on the lookout for frontcourt help and reportedly has NBA free agent big man Precious Achiuwa on its radar.

Kevin Martorano of Sportando shares the details, citing a report from Vasilis Papatheodorou of SDNA, who says Achiuwa is on Panathinaikos’ short list of potential targets.

Achiuwa, who will turn 26 in September, has spent the past season-and-a-half with the Knicks after being traded from Toronto to New York along with OG Anunoby in December 2023. In 57 games in 2024/25, he averaged 6.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 20.5 minutes per contest, with a .502/.278/.594 shooting line.

Achiuwa is a bit undersized for a center and isn’t a threat as an outside shooter, but he’s an athletic, high-energy player who rebounds well and is a versatile, switchable defender. Still, he remains unsigned a month into free agency and a reunion with the Knicks appears off the table after New York signed Guerschon Yabusele to take his spot on the depth chart.

There’s no indication yet that there’s serious mutual interest between Achiuwa and Panathinaikos, but this is the first real rumor we’ve heard about him in several weeks, so it’s worth keeping an eye on.

Knicks Notes: Achiuwa, Tucker, Payne, Shamet, Free Agents, Brown

June 19th, 2025 at 11:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Coming off a frustrating season in terms of playing time, Knicks big man Precious Achiuwa “started to see the game a lot differently” in January, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscriber link).

Bondy notes that Achiuwa was never able to win the full trust of former head coach Tom Thibodeau, dating back to his arrival in a trade with Toronto last season. Thibodeau inserted former Knick Jericho Sims into the starting lineup instead of Achiuwa when Karl-Anthony Towns was injured, and Achiuwa saw his minutes drop even more when Mitchell Robinson returned in March.

Bondy points out that Achiuwa got off to a strong start during the preseason, but wasn’t able to claim a regular role after missing the first 21 games of the regular season with a hamstring strain.

“You don’t want to start off the season hurt,” Achiuwa said. “And I was kind of having a really good preseason. So getting hurt right there kind of throws you off your rhythm. You get back, you’re trying to get back your rhythm. And then you’re battling getting your rhythm with inconsistencies in terms of playing time, playing style. It took a while for me. But it was tough.”

Achiuwa is exploring his options as he prepares for free agency at the end of the month. Bondy believes the chances of him staying in New York may have improved slightly due to the coaching change, but the team’s salary cap situation makes a return uncertain.

“Going to take a little bit of time from my end to think about that stuff,” Achiuwa said regarding free agency. “But that’s something that’s important. So when that time comes, I have people who I pay money to handle that type of stuff, who have those type of conversations. So we’ll see how that goes.”

There’s more from New York:

The Knicks are almost certain to decline their $3.5MM option on P.J. Tucker for next season, Bondy adds in the same piece, but that doesn’t mean he won’t re-sign. Although Tucker barely played after joining the team in March, he established himself as a strong locker room leader. Bondy notes that free agent guards Cameron Payne and Landry Shamet are both close friends of Mikal Bridges, increasing the chances that they’ll return. Bondy identifies Al Horford, Nicolas Batum and Chris Paul as potential low-cost additions in free agency.
In a mailbag column, James L. Edwards III of The Athletic points to Grizzlies sharpshooter Luke Kennard as another possible free agent target. Edwards acknowledges that Kennard is likely to receive better offers than the $5.7MM he could get from New York, but adds that his status as a CAA client could give the Knicks an advantage. Edwards also names Horford as an MLE target, along with Spencer Dinwiddie and Trey Lyles.
Former Sacramento head coach Mike Brown conducted his interview with the Knicks on Wednesday, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link).

Knicks Make Lineup Change; Robinson In, Hart Out

May 25th, 2025 at 6:38pm CST by Rory Maher

6:38pm: It’s official. Robinson will start and Hart will come off the bench tonight, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post tweets.

11:57am: The Knicks are “leaning toward” inserting center Mitchell Robinson into the starting lineup for Sunday’s Game 3 in Indiana, sources tell Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Robinson would replace wing Josh Hart in the starting five.

ESPN’s Shams Charania confirms the Knicks are giving “serious consideration” to the idea of benching Hart in favor of Robinson ahead of the pivotal game (story via Chris Herring of ESPN.com). New York lost both games at home to open the Eastern Conference Finals and finds itself in a 0-2 hole ahead of Sunday’s contest.

As Herring observes, the Knicks have gone with their usual starting group of Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Hart, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns for the entire season and playoffs when they’ve all been healthy, so this could mark the team’s first major lineup change of 2024/25.

Despite playing the most minutes of any five-man group this postseason and advancing past Detroit and Boston, the starters have struggled during their time together on the court and have had much more success when Robinson and/or Miles McBride are mixed in.

Replacing Hart with Robinson would slide Towns, who has struggled defensively against the Pacers, from center to power forward, Begley writes. Reserve big man Precious Achiuwa is a candidate to receive more playing time if Robinson moves into the starting lineup for Game 3, Begley adds. An impending free agent who appeared in 57 regular season games (20.5 minutes per contest), Achiuwa has barely seen any action in the playoffs, averaging just 4.8 MPG while appearing in five of the team’s 14 postseason games.

When asked about the potential lineup change, Hart said he believes he’s a starter and had a great year, but he also has no issue if head coach Tom Thibodeau decides to bring him off the bench (Twitter video link via Knicks Videos).

“I can’t sit here and preach about sacrifice and getting out of our own personal agendas and all that and then, a decision like that is made, then be mad at it and not want to sacrifice and not want to do that,” Hart said. “That’s not the kind of person that I am.”

Hart added that the Knicks need to improve in multiple areas to claw their way back into the series, tweets Steve Popper of Newsday.

“Yeah, I think we need something drastic in terms of our energy and effort, our competitiveness,” Hart said.

After averaging 13.2 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 5.2 APG, 1.0 SPG and 0.8 BPG in helping New York reach the ECF (12 games; 37.1 MPG), Hart has averaged 7.0 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 4.0 APG, 1.0 SPG and 0.5 BPG through two games against Indiana (36.5 MPG). The Knicks have been outscored by 14 points during his time on the court in the series, whereas Robinson is plus-six in 50 minutes.

Knicks Notes: Towns, Starting Five, Robinson, Achiuwa

May 16th, 2025 at 2:56pm CST by Luke Adams

After averaging 24.4 points and 16.9 field goal tries per game during the regular season, Karl-Anthony Towns has attempted 17 or more shots in just three of 11 playoff outings so far this spring and has been held below 24 points in all five games in the Knicks‘ second-round series vs. Boston.

Towns was limited to 5-of-11 shooting from the field in New York’s Game 5 loss, with many of his 19 points coming in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach, prompting Stefan Bondy of The New York Post and Ian Begley of SNY.tv to write that the Knicks need to find a way to unlock Towns and get him more involved in the offensive game plan.

Towns shot 42.0% on 4.7 three-point attempts per game during the regular season but has gone just 2-of-13 in five games against Boston. He suggested after Game 5 that the decline in his shots from beyond the arc has been by design, per Begley.

“I haven’t really been out there really. Haven’t had the chance to shoot. We’ve just been trying to do our game plan and I’m just trying to execute at the highest level,” Towns said. “So I’m trying to do most of my damage inside and do whatever my team asks of me.”

As Begley points out, Towns made just one outside shot in his first two games against Detroit in the conference quarterfinals before knocking down nine and scoring 58 total points in Games 3 and 4, so there’s a recent precedent for him bouncing back and coming up big when the Knicks need him most.

Here’s more on the Knicks ahead of Friday’s Game 6:

Despite being built around a strong starting five, the Knicks haven’t been as dominant with Towns, Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart on the court as hoped. That lineup had just a +1.9 net rating in 330 minutes from Christmas Day through the end of the regular season and has posted a -7.3 mark in the playoffs, including -16.3 in the second round. With that in mind, Fred Katz of The Athletic considers whether or not a starting lineup tweak makes sense.
The Knicks acquired Bridges and Anunoby for situations like this one, according to Chris Herring of ESPN, who looks at the impact the two standout wings have made in New York and explores how they could make a difference in Game 6.
Mitchell Robinson‘s 6-of-6 performance from the free throw line was a silver lining for the Knicks in Game 5 and could make him an even more valuable weapon if he can keep it up, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post. Despite the fact that New York leads the series 3-2, Robinson’s is the only Knick who has a positive net rating (+10.6) vs. Boston.
The Knicks have listed big man Precious Achiuwa as questionable for Friday’s game due to a right ankle sprain. Achiwua’s status doesn’t figure to have any impact on Tom Thibodeau‘s rotation, since he has only played 15 total minutes in the series.