Miami Heat: 3 big questions going into the 2020-21 season

2. How impactful will Precious Achiuwa be?

The Heat’s feelings of affection towards young, energetic, athletic 6’9” big men were on full display in the 2020 draft. Miami drafted Memphis product Precious Achiuwa 20th overall.

Across both preseason contests, Achiuwa averaged 10.5 points and 8.5 rebounds on 69.2 percent field goal shooting in 21.5 minutes a night. The 21-year-old’s bruising, tough playstyle could be just what Miami needs off the bench.

Rebounding, which is Achuiwa’s strong suit, was one of Miami’s biggest weaknesses last season. In rebounds per game, they ranked 17th in the regular season, 12th in the playoffs and got outrebounded by almost eight boards per game in the Finals. Their offensive rebounding, in particular, was lackluster.

Last season, Miami’s inaugural opening unit included Adebayo and Meyers Leonard. Adebayo operated on the high-post and around the rim while Leonard spaced the floor. They have begun this preseason the same way. Perhaps Spoelstra will look to emulate the pairing with Achiuwa and Kelly Olynyk. Miami used Chris Silva, another physically imposing yet undersized big man, off the bench throughout the regular season.

Achiuwa has the intensity and dunks to energize Miami and capture the hearts of Heat fans. But his game, especially on defense, is still pretty raw. Like any rookie, Achiuwa needs to catch up to the speed of the game. This will be especially important on defense. The preseason showed that he can read the floor too slowly at times.

It seems like Achiuwa turns on autopilot for this transition below. He doesn’t chase the long rebound, choosing instead to lunge towards the ball handler before jogging back on defense. He’s just a step behind Terence Davis, who gets the pass and the layup and doesn’t have the awareness to make a play.

This may be a case of being lackadaisical preseason basketball. Hopefully, if this opportunity presents itself when the games start mattering, Achiuwa will disrupt the play with a chase-down block (or even in a less flashy way, such as getting down the court quicker to deny Kyle Lowry the pass).

There will be growing pains with Achiuwa. But he could still be a key player for the reigning Eastern Conference champs.