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Just a couple weeks ago, Precious Achiuwa had arguably the best game of his rookie season. In just 12 minutes — remember, he only plays as Bam Adebayo’s backup — Achiuwa scored 14 points and grabbed seven boards. Just before the All-Star weekend, he was named to the Rising Stars team.
Precious Achiuwa has become the first player in NBA history to post 14 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block & 1 steal in 12 minutes or less, per @Stathead.#HEATTwitter pic.twitter.com/XDE2bDERg5
— Simon Smith (@SimonSperling) March 1, 2021
So why, now that Adebayo has missed time, have we seen Achiuwa become an afterthought in the rotation?
In Miami’s two games since the All-Star break, Achiuwa has logged only four and three minutes, respectively. And because Adebayo is out, Erik Spoelstra has gone to the seldom-used Chris Silva for some playing time. Prior to these last two games, Silva had last played on Jan. 16 — right after Jimmy Butler and Avery Bradley had entered the league’s COVID-19 protocols.
The issue may stem from a moment in the Heat’s win over the Orlando Magic Thursday night when Achiuwa threw the ball away, drawing the ire of Spoelstra.
#5RSN In the timeout, Spo was not happy with Precious. Silva getting minutes@5ReasonsSports #HeatTwitter pic.twitter.com/iIny2T60jr
— Alejandro Villegas (@alejandrovg32) March 12, 2021
To be fair, Silva made some nice defensive plays in last night’s win over the Chicago Bulls. In his 12 minutes, Silva went 2-for-2 from the field and grabbed three rebounds.
Silva wants all of it pic.twitter.com/cVSxRpQdPB
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) March 13, 2021
But Silva at his best is still not as good of a player as Achiuwa. And that makes sense — the Heat drafted Achiuwa with the 20th pick last year, while Silva was an undrafted player who signed a two-way contract before the 2019-20 season. Is Spoelstra playing Silva ahead of Achiuwa as a message? Could it be a sign that Miami will include Achiuwa in a deadline deal and doesn’t want him to risk an injury?
I hope this was just a message Spoelstra sent to Achiuwa that he’ll need to earn his minutes. The Heat have a lot of holes in the front-court aside from Adebayo. KZ Okpala and Moe Harkless haven’t proven to be suitable replacements for Jae Crowder. Kelly Olynyk is shooting a career-low from 3-point range. Hopefully, Achiuwa can build on his positive development this first half of the season and continue to grow into a solid rotation player.
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