Big man Precious Achiuwa began his pro career with the Miami Heat after he was chosen with the No. 20 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Several years removed from when he last played for the Heat, the team has reportedly expressed interest in a reunion with the Nigerian.
“In its search for another veteran backup power rotation player, the Heat has expressed interest in power forward/center Precious Achiuwa, its 2020 first-round pick, but has not offered him a contract, an involved party said,” Barry Jackson wrote.
However, Jackson detailed that Miami needs to create some more room under the luxury tax threshold to sign the free agent to a standard deal. As things stand, the Heat won’t have enough room to sign a 15th player to a regular contract until the month of December.
“The Heat conveyed that Achiuwa would be strongly considered if Miami creates more room under the luxury tax threshold,” Jackson wrote. “Unless the Heat releases Terry Rozier or purges some other salary in a trade, Miami would not have enough space to sign a 15th player to a standard contract — and remain under the luxury tax line — until December.”
Achiuwa just recently played the role of an impactful reserve for a New York Knicks team that reached the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals. He appeared in 57 games in the 2024-25 regular season and averaged 6.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
He’s easily one of the best big men still available on the open market in free agency, and his acquisition would make a lot of sense for the Heat on paper.
Achiuwa has plenty of experience playing the power forward spot along with the center position, and Miami isn’t exactly stacked with depth at the power forward position ahead of the coming season. Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware are Miami’s top two big men, but they were both classified as centers a season ago.
Hopefully, the Heat can make a move that will free up the financial room necessary to add Achiuwa on a standard contract before the season’s start, but whether that’s feasible is up for debate. At the very least, Rozier reportedly is uninterested in working with the Heat organization to buy out his contract. The tea leaves suggest that there hasn’t been a ton of trade interest in Rozier around the league this summer, either.
If the Heat can’t buy out Rozier’s contract or trade him elsewhere soon, Miami could just play the waiting game and hope that Achiuwa will still be a free agent in December. That would be a risky move, however, as there’s a solid chance he’s signed by one of the 30 teams around the league before then.