Just a few weeks ago, Precious Achiuwa had arguably the best game of his debut season. In just 12 minutes – remember, he plays only as a substitute for Bam Adebayo – Achiuwa scored 14 points and grabbed seven bags. Just before the All-Star weekend, he was named to the Rising Stars team.
So why, now that Adebayo has wasted time, did we see Achiuwa become an afterthought in rotation?
In Miami’s two games since the All-Star break, Achiuwa recorded just four and three minutes, respectively. And because Adebayo is out, Erik Spoelstra went to the little-used Chris Silva for some time in the game. Before those last two games, Silva had last played on January 16 – shortly after Jimmy Butler and Avery Bradley joined the league’s COVID-19 protocols.
The problem may stem from a moment in the Heat’s victory over the Orlando Magic on Thursday night, when Achiuwa threw the ball away, drawing Spoelstra’s ire.
To be fair, Silva made some good defensive plays in last night’s victory over the Chicago Bulls. In his 12 minutes, Silva made 2 to 2 of the field and had three rebounds.
But Silva at his best is still not as good a player as Achiuwa. And that makes sense – Heat chose Achiuwa with 20th choice last year, while Silva was an unescaled player who signed a two-way contract ahead of the 2019-20 season. Is Spoelstra playing Silva ahead of Achiuwa as a message? Is it a sign that Miami will include Achiuwa in a deadline deal and you don’t want him to get hurt?
I hope this was just a message that Spoelstra sent Achiuwa that he needs to earn his minutes. The Heat has many holes on the court in addition to Adebayo. KZ Okpala and Moe Harkless have not proven to be suitable substitutes for Jae Crowder. Kelly Olynyk is reaching the lowest point of her career in the 3-point range. Hopefully, Achiuwa will be able to take advantage of his positive development in the first half of the season and continue to grow and become a solid rotating player.