The Miami Heat’s search for another big man may lead them to a familiar face: Precious Achiuwa.
Here's hoping the search isn’t over.
Selected by the Heat 20th overall in the 2020 draft, Achiuwa is back on the team’s radar, according to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. Scouring the market for another big makes sense. Miami doesn’t have any depth behind Bam Adebayo, Kel’el Ware, and Nikola Jokic. Even if head coach Erik Spoelstra intends to favor smaller lineups for much of the game, the Heat need someone else to contribute on the frontline.
And Achiuwa isn’t the answer.
The Heat shouldn’t take the steps required to sign Achiuwa
Miami can offer Achiuwa a veteran’s minimum contract right now without any additional moves. As Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald notes, though, it won’t do so without ensuring it avoids the luxury tax.
The Heat are working within tight margins on this front. They are within $2 million of the tax line. A veteran’s minimum deal for Achiuwa would take them past it. This isn’t technically a problem. Miami has until the end of the league’s 2025-26 calendar to get out of the tax.
Yet, in a patently confusing stance, the Heat insist on remaining outside the tax now. If they sign Achiuwa, Jackson says they are more likely to waive Terry Rozier’s expiring contract, save around $1.7 million, and skirt the tax that way.
Make no bones about it, this would be a stupid move by Miami. Though it doesn’t compromise long-term flexibility, it severely limits the team’s midseason trade options. Achiuwa isn’t good enough to punt on that flexibility.
Precious Achiuwa also isn't a good fit for the Heat
Remove the curiously self-imposed logistics, and Achiuwa still doesn’t make sense for the Heat.
During his time in Miami, Toronto, and New York, he was always at his best alongside playmakers who could tee him up. The Heat’s best passer is Tyler Herro—a skilled playmaker who isn’t quite a floor general.
Miami’s spacing also isn’t yet conducive to adding another non-shooter. You can’t play Achiuwa next to Bam or Wade and guarantee a four-out setup. Using him next to Jovic, meanwhile, comes at a defensive-rebounding cost.
This says nothing of Achiuwa’s fringe-big-man size. He is listed at 6’8”, making him smaller than the 6’9” Adebayo. While Achiuwa can still make a defensive dent, he is more valuable for his versatility than as a baseline rim protector.
To be sure, this won’t be a make-or break move for the Heat either way. But if the barrier for entry is waiving Rozier, and even if it’s not, Miami should hold out for someone who isn’t as functionally limiting.