MIAMI – As the Miami Heat have championship aspirations this upcoming season, one of the lateal moves they made this offseason was reuniting with Precious Achiuwa. With the Heat signing the former first-round pick on a one-year, non-guaranteed contract, the forward speaks about returning and how it has been a relatively seamless transition.There’s no denying that when Miami picked Achiuwa with the 20th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, there was disappointment with how it ended, as he was traded after a year with the team, which landed the team Kyle Lowry in August of 2021. After stints with the Toronto Raptors and, most recently, with the New York Knicks, Achiuwa is a more mature player.
One of the few constants of Miami is that, besides head coach Erik Spoelstra and some within the staff, Achiuwa reunites with stars Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo. Achiuwa would tell ClutchPoints after Wednesday’s training camp session at Florida Atlantic University that they were all close back in 2020 and have still kept in touch since the departure.
“Those are guys. I mean, we’re really close when I was here, you know, we still kept in touch after,” Achiuwa said. “It feels good to, you know, be back, and obviously, my job is to find ways to make their job easier.”
“Everyone in this organization, we’ve always been kept in contact,” Achiuwa continued. “You know, always been friends, cool, Bam, Tyler. I mean, I’ve seen them all throughout the years. Whenever we’re playing, we always talk about different things outside of basketball. So, I never felt like brand new when I came back. Was just more so, you know, just getting back with the pack, really.”
Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on the opportunity with Precious Achiuwa
While the Heat are getting ready for the 2025-26 season, Achiuwa is preparing to contribute in giving the team depth at the power forward position, as he’s shown in recent stops, his ability to impact the game on the glass. He has made an impact and served his role with teams like the Knicks, especially during deep playoff runs, which has made that experience indispensable for Miami.
Spoelstra spoke during Monday’s media day about not getting the “opportunity to fully develop him,” saying that he was a different head coach back then and how Axhiuwa was a different player as well.
“We never had an opportunity to fully develop him,” Spoelstra said. “There was a lot we really liked about him. His speed, athleticism, jump off the page.”
“We were able to laugh about it a couple days ago about how some of my mentorship with Kel’El Ware and [Nikola Jovic],” Spoelstra continued. “That was Precious his rookie year. There were a lot of ups and downs with Precious and the head coach. We didn’t have that opportunity to take that next step. We have that opportunity now. He has a different perspective. It’s coming from a place of love.”
Erik Spoelstra speaks about his confidence with their power depth, especially with the addition of Precious Achiuwa.
Mentioned how he was a different coach back when he was on the team, excited to continue that development. #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/UlFaK4xHLi
https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1972713743017734297?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1972713743017734297%7Ctwgr%5Eb260ed76180f1cae6ade835769365e57024c79ee%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fclutchpoints.com%2Fnba%2Fmiami-heat%2Fheat-news-how-bam-adebayo-tyler-herro-bonds-helped-ex-1st-round-picks-return-to-miami
At any rate, Achiuwa would mention Monday how there is “unfinished business” being back with Miami, looking to continue to show how he can impact a team in the NBA.
Precious Achiuwa spoke about being back with the Heat and how he has changed since last being with the team. #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/B6hYO2sduN
https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1972726324310732842?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1972726324310732842%7Ctwgr%5Eb260ed76180f1cae6ade835769365e57024c79ee%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fclutchpoints.com%2Fnba%2Fmiami-heat%2Fheat-news-how-bam-adebayo-tyler-herro-bonds-helped-ex-1st-round-picks-return-to-miami
Achiuwa and the Heat will continue to prepare during this week of training camp before traveling to Puerto Rico on Saturday to take on the Orlando Magic in their preseason opener.
