An unpredictable season lies ahead for the Miami Heat in 2025-26, especially since their 2025 All-Star Tyler Herro will miss a few weeks to begin the campaign after undergoing surgery on his lower leg.
The Heat are aiming to remain competitive with their 5-time All-Defensive Team selection Bam Adebayo and newly-acquired ex-Los Angeles Clippers scoring guard Norman Powell at the helm, and their bench depth will be a major key to success for the franchise.
Even still, Miami’s front office was forced to cut a significant portion of their training camp players and potential reserve options prior to the Oct. 20 deadline to set their regular season roster. Among the players that were sent home, the group was headlined by an ex-New York Knicks frontcourt contributor from the 2024-25 season and an excellent young defensive guard.
“The Heat has released Precious Achiuwa before his contract started to become guaranteed on opening night,” The Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang shared via X on Friday night.
“Achiuwa signed a non-guaranteed one-year deal with Miami last month.”
“Heat also waived Ethan Thompson, Dain Dainja and Bez Mbeng tonight.”
At just 26 years old, Achiuwa now finds himself as a free agent after helping the Knicks notch their first Eastern Conference Finals berth since 2000 in 2024-25.
In 57 appearances for New York last season, the versatile frontcourt presence averaged 6.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 0.7 blocks in 20.5 minutes.
Along with Achiuwa, several former collegiate standouts like Ethan Thompson, Dain Dainja and Bez Mbeng were dropped from the Heat’s roster. The latter of the three was a surprise, due in large part to Miami’s announcement that they had signed the Yale University star on Thursday.
Following a senior season with Yale that saw the 6-foot-4 guard win Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year honors for the third consecutive year and take home his first Ivy League Player of the Year award in 2024-25, Mbeng could have been considered a shoe-in to make the Heat’s final roster off the strength of his defensive dominance, alone.
Instead, it appears as though the 6-foot-4 guard could be headed for the Heat’s G-League affiliate Sioux Falls Skyforce, where he could receive a fair shot to excel as a defender against NBA-level talent.
Spanning his 29 appearances with Yale as a senior last season, Mbeng compiled box score figures of 13.0 points, 5.8 assists (Ivy League lead), 5.6 rebounds and 1.8 steals (Ivy League lead) while knocking down 36.8% of his three-point attempts.
