Miami Heat sign Precious Achiuwa | Five on the Floor

Miami Heat sign Precious Achiuwa | Five on the Floor

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They’ll be right there on the explore page. Check it out. It’s prize picks. Use the code FIVE. And now today’s episode. Uhoh. Yeah, it’s Mercy Music by Mercy again. He keep nation. I need you to call out blanket for the shot. Still five on the floor. Still ride for my night on the court. Still survive in the war. Keep your eye on the ball or get burned from the heat. This mic off the wall without turning the cheek from night to day. No sleeping pads or allowed to mourn us. They love to sleep us never catch alive from Miami. We pour in the heat with five reasons from the court to the streets. Hey, be patient. [Applause] Welcome to Five on the Floor, a daily insider show on the Miami Heat and the NBA featuring Ethan Skolnick, Greg Sander, Alex Toledo, Brady Hawk, and others from the Five Reason Sports Network. Also, make sure to subscribe to Off the Floor for the most heat anywhere. [Music] The Miami Heat have a big well kind of uh today’s floor plan. I’m Ethan Skolnick. You can follow me in Ethan J. Skull. Got five reasons in sports. I got Alex Toledo. You can follow Metropolo Blanket. I’ve got Greg Sander. You follow Greg Sander. The three of us only come together for huge events like this one. The Miami Heat have signed a former first round pick. Their former first round pick, Prescu. I have to remember again how to pronounce his name. Could the Heat please sign more Norm Powels? Much easier for me to pronounce. Uh I won’t mangle them quite the way I’m going to mangle this one. Of course, Precious was chosen over a couple of people. That’s how he’s remembered. Desmond Bane, Tyrese Maxi. He’s not an elite big. He’s only about 6’7, 6’8, but he’s had a couple pretty decent stints lately. Uh with the Knicks, he wasn’t bad. He fit into the back end of their rotation. The Heat needed a big uh somebody else to fill in as sort of that fourth guy. Alex and I, I feel like we’ve done about three million episodes on this. Terry Rosir trade is not happening right now. So, they weren’t going to get a big for him. And this is a non-g guaranteed contract. Anthony Chang from the Herald was the first to report that. So, it doesn’t have any tax implications yet. And if it ends up having tax implications, they could probably work their way back under it. Uh, and so we’ll see where that goes. But, uh, here’s here’s my thought on this. The first thing that comes to mind, Greg, and this is first thing, they know their his limitations. Now, this is not the same as when he came in and, you know, baby Bam or any of that kind of stuff. I mean, they know what he can do and he can’t do. This is for short minutes. Uh, somebody who knows the system, somebody that they’re comfortable with. Uh, but it’s kind of crazy. They now have seven of their own first round picks on the roster. I never thought I would say that for a Pat Riley team. That doesn’t include Pal Larson, who’s a second round pick. Built, not bought. Right. It’s crazy. Like you said about San Antonio, right? That’s how Indiana. One of those two. Uh, yes. I think it was I think it was Indiana actually that they said that. Um, it’s funny to think about now. And I also thought that it was interesting. Um, Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press uh tweeted something related to Riley uh always wanted him to get Precious Sichua back with the Heat and that it was inevitable at some point. Uh, I was actually surprised they did it because this does have luxury tax implications if they keep him for the full season. But January 10th is the date that we’ll all have to circle with this because that’s when his contract would become fully guaranteed. So for right now, one, we need to figure out who they’re going to cut from the training camp roster because they can take 21 guys in and they already had that full um a lotment of players slated. So somebody’s not going coming to training camp uh in place of Precious AUA. But also then, are you going to guarantee his salary for the full season, cut him before January 10th or figure out something with Terry Roier by January? I guess that’s the other option. Well, I think the other thing this shows, Alex, is uh you know, they’re not that comfortable with uh Vlad Golden playing a ton of minutes at this point. And I don’t think you or I were either. They gave him a two-way and and he’ll compete, but I don’t think he was going to slip into the rotation. I could see Precious getting some backend rotation minutes. I don’t think it would be the plan necessarily, but uh do do you think because we had a couple guys in the network who suggested this and I I wouldn’t go this far. Uh, do you think this gives Sposer the license to start wear with BAM because there’s not as much of a worry about the rotation balance and not having a quote unquote backup center because you certainly don’t want Yoic doing that or does this not make any difference because it’s just the order that the guys are going to come in? I do think like regarding that part of the conversation, I think you just it just makes Fo probably maybe a little bit more comfortable with, you know, if that’s going to be end up being the big man rotation where you’re starting B and we’re together and then you’re staggering from there perhaps with Yoic at the four perhaps with another wing at the four at times. Um, I think it makes it easier to do that knowing that, you know, like if and when guys miss games, because usually guys don’t play 82 games, you know, like you have somebody else there with NBA experience for as much as, you know, like and I believe them when they say things like this that like Golden, you know, was like a second round pick for them. I’m sure they had him, you know, with some sort of second round grade. Like I don’t I don’t doubt that, but that doesn’t mean that he’s going to be ready, you know, to play. Like they’ve deemed him ready to play just because they had a second round grade on him, right? Because that’s not typically how it works. And you know, Spo is all about like trust and stuff. That’s why like, you know, um even with for example, like the hero injury, I’m not really expecting a lot of Casper’s um minutes as much as I like to see it, right? But when it comes to Golden, it just feels like um you know, he’s so much like his game doesn’t necessarily like look you look at it and it’s like, okay, yeah, you can put him on the floor right away. The only thing that you felt good about with with him as far as playing him right away was the size. It’s like he’s not skinny, you know, like he can go down there and wrestle and and get in position with guys. Like that that part of it was nice and he was very productive as a college player. I’m not trying to downplay him, but yeah, they’ve got this guy in Precious now. And although I don’t think of him as a regular like night toight rotation guy, um you know, I do think they’ll play him if something were to happen to one of their other bigs. I I just think like, you know, not only that they drafted him and, you know, as Tim Reynolds said, Pat Riley didn’t really want to see him go and all that stuff. I’m not trying to hype him up, but he’s obviously a playable NBA player. I do think the defense is there. Um, you know, uh, just the way that he’s able to move like he moves pretty well for a big, you know, he doesn’t um, jump out the gym, right? Like I’m not expecting a whole lot of lob attempts or nothing like that, but uh, you know, he can set screens. I feel it feels like he’s gotten better at some of the detail stuff, you know, just being in the right place at the right time uh, over the years. But like he ranked in the 86th percentile on defense last year by uh defensive EPM and on offense it was in the eighth percentile. So that tells you a lot about the type of player he is. He he’s more of a a defensive um kind of addition here as far as you know the the the the positional need that they had. I I guess what sticks out to me is I go back to a question I asked Riley this summer after they drafted him where I said h how willing do you think Eric’s going to be to play uh Bam and Precious together and he said well his answer was essentially we wouldn’t have drafted him if not and then Spo didn’t uh right so I that that’s um my only question here I don’t look this is a this is a lowrisk move is not guaranteed. Again, they know his limitations now. They’re not going to put him in positions where he can’t succeed. Obviously, they expected more of him offensively if they wouldn’t have drafted him where they did. Uh, and this is a group that typically has drafted well. Precious actually, you know, Greg, if you look at what he’s done in the NBA, he’s been about his draft spot in terms of serviceable. He’s ser he’s serviceable. He’s just not Bane or Maxi. So, he’s gotten compared to those two guys. But again, there’s always guys who are going to slip past. But but I guess if Spo wasn’t comfortable playing him with Bam the last time. Oh, they’re not playing together. Okay. So he’s going to play in place of where basically. Yeah. Excuse me. Play place of Bam with where? I mean I’m sorry. Um I I guess that’s the way that it would go. or you would just see um bench units where you get precious aua as the only big on the floor and and for limited stints like stuff like that. I don’t know uh that the staggering will be uh as prevalent as you’ll see in other like with the guard rotation and some of the staggering that they’ll do there. Uh it it’ll be for me I I I guess I didn’t really think of it as Precious and Bam fitting next to one another. This is more of just because we talked on a recent uh show about if wear went down like Bam was the only big that they could count on and that would be a lot for him to shoulder throughout the season. This at least gives another player that can play some of those minutes. Um, so for me, this is more about relief for Bam versus versatility and fit next to Bam. He doesn’t shoot well from three. I think he shot 27%. Uh, so I’m not expecting much there. So this this is more about just having depth in the front court, which they didn’t have. And I think it confirms our suspicion that Vlad Golden is not it in terms of a playable, productive player in year one just yet. That that’s not where he’s not there yet. Yeah. No, I’m with you on that. And you’re probably right. I think he would be the only big on the floor and then your tallest player would be 67. But I don’t think that or you playing with Nico. That would make more sense, right, of the of the guys to play because he can’t play with where because I I don’t think because then you don’t have a spacer. I mean, you’re not you’re not leaning the Knicks the Knicks played him next to Hardenstein at times, but that was also like an injury situation that they had a couple years ago in the playoffs when he was playing. So, I don’t even But that’s not something I would do. That’s not something I I I see Spoi either. Like, I get it technically like, you know, he’s 68. It’s not like you’re playing two sevenfooters next to each other, but you know, he’s not like a complete stiff, but yeah, like Le said, he’s he’s been a sub 30% three-point shooter the last three seasons. Um, his three-point attempts came down last year, so it just doesn’t feel like it’s it’s going to trend in the way where they’re going to make him like this big who shoots next to Bammer where I I don’t see that happening. Maybe like Nico and Wiggins would be the guys I could see him next to. It’s funny because they talked him up as a shooter when they drafted him if you remember. Yeah, that look not every guy develop not every guy not every guy develops the way that you hoped. He’s only 26. Maybe the maybe the culture will prevail here. He’s only Well, well, it does it doesn’t raise their average age, right? Because their average age of the rotation uh we have it at 25.8 and uh and it’s he’s he’s right on par here. But it’s it’s crazy to me that they’ve got seven first round picks from that they drafted on this roster. doesn’t even include Wiggins. Right now, Powell was a second round pick uh elsewhere, Toronto, and Larson was their own second round pick. It’s a lot of draft choices that they have in this roster. There has been an absolute shift to higher upside players. There’s no question that that’s what they’re trying to do. But again, Precious, I think we’ve hit the upside and it’s now it’s like, okay, it’s just we know him, he’s playable. Okay, that’s that that was that was sufficient and we’ve got time to decide whether or not to guarantee the contract. All right, on the other side of this uh we’ll talk about the I mean are we okay now with the training camp roster as we’re what six days not even six days five days uh away from media. Uh before we do, if you’re not okay, you have an accident, you got to reach out to our friends over at 305800 PIN. That’s 305800 PAIN. Your first call after an accident, always ready to take that call 247. Fast connection with trusted doctors and attorneys. Get immediate attention. A community focus. They’re a local brand. They’re based in Dorado. Alex will be back there podcasting from uh from their office uh fairly soon. Hopefully the rain holds off that day. But again, rain can cause accidents. And if you have an accident, reach out to someone that gives has the trust and credibility of an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. Car accidents, personal injuries, and relief in legal matters. Easy to remember. Here’s the number. The number is the brand 305800 PIN. That’s 305800 Payne. So, we good? You comfortable with this roster that I mean, we we’ve talked about it now for three months. They’ve they’ve added Norm Powell, Simone Fonteio. Yep. Precious Aua. Casperis. Hold on. Yakonis. No. How’ you help him? Cuz I mean it was going to be Yakonis. Yak. I can see a fumble before. You’re too good of a teammate there. We had to We had to leave it for content purposes to right let him go for it. Got to let me screw it up. Uh, so they’ve added those players. They’ve lost Duncan Robinson, Haywood Highmith. Uh, Thomas Bryant was already gone. Yeah. Did you say Duncan? Yes, I did say Duncan. Alec Burks is in Alec. Alec Burks, who I honestly he’s waiting around. He may, you know, he could follow in the Wayne Ellington football. He had a good season, too. Like, he he did it. You know, if they didn’t so desperately need a big, I could have made the case that this roster spot would have been more useful for him. They need shooting not having hero, right? Like that’s So I could make the case and you kind of hope he’s still around at some point uh so that they they could possibly add him because I I I do think he was he was fine last year for them. And I mean even started and people are forgetting he was starting at the end of the season. That’s not what a situation you want. Again, uh is this roster, let’s take the hero injury out of it, okay? Because obviously that puts a damper on everything. Is this roster better than the one they finished last season with? I I don’t I You have to include Wiggins and DaVon. Oh, Kyle Anderson and Kevin Love also not here. Those are the other two that aren’t here. Is this roster The roster is better, right? You have to make some pretty big assumptions about the trajectory of like let’s say Nico uh that Larson is going to step up. Haimey maybe is at least better than he was last year. Uh and then the you know just the question of Hero and Pal fitting. Uh it it’s difficult to understand. Um, on paper I think it’s probably pretty even, but I think that this group, well, there’s a couple things. By virtue of Jimmy being gone and that like cloud being lifted from the entire situation, that can be helpful. But for me, uh, you’re assuming that your young players, where included, are going to be contributors because I mean, we just talked about how they needed another bid because it’s just wear and bam. Uh, as we talk about shooting, like some of these guys are just going to get opportunities. Nico is going to need to play well. So, you’re by saying that this team is better than the one that finished last season, you’re really making assumptions that a lot of these young guys are going to pop to some degree. You You are. And it’s hard to take the hero thing out of this. I I do feel think like we’d feel differently if the Tyler injury hadn’t come to pass. And then I’m trying to tell myself, well, at least he’s not out for the season like Van Vleet. like you I mean you’re looking at 15 games roughly uh supposed to have a full recovery and then you kind of see what you’ve got but I I I would say that okay adding Norm Powell Fonte Precious uh Casperis I’m not doing it again and and and losing love who is not going to play for you. I know what they lose in the locker room for Duncan is a really good swap. Sorry to interrupt you. Right. No. Right. And I if that’s your rotational swap that we’re talking about that’s that’s you know what the other one is funny enough. Yes. And people are going to hate when I say this. Drew for Haywood. That’s the other rotation. Well, right. But Drew Drew was with was with the team at the end of last year and and then like saying he wasn’t on the roster. He That’s true. That’s true. That’s that’s true. But I I I think they’re I think their roster is better. There should be some internal growth. The hero thing obviously puts a damper on all of it. They didn’t improve as much as a lot of Heat fans wanted them to improve on paper, but I do think the roster is better on paper. They didn’t lose anybody that’s going to make a significant difference for them because Haywood was clearly not in spos graces at this point. and Duncan, they were ready to move on. I think we’ve seen everything. I think peak Duncan was really before the back injury that that half season that he rebounded from kind of being shelved in the rotation for Strus that was the best Duncan we were probably going to see. I’m not saying he won’t be good in Detroit. I think it’s a perfect fit for him and it’s home. I think he’s going to be really good there, but I think as far as what we were going to see with the Heat, I think we’d seen it. So, I I don’t I don’t think that’s a big deal. And I think Fonteio can has the capability just an upgrade, man. Like, yeah. Yeah, it’s power. keeping Debon like the fact that he got weaved into that Jimmy trade and then they were able to keep him as a long-term piece. That’s another uh feather in the cap of of the front office who’s taken a lot of arrows in the back instead of feathers in the cap recently. Didn’t have to give up like four years. I mean, give him four years at like a you know, an overpay or anything like that. Like it was a reasonable deal despite him like completely outplaying expectations. not just the threes, but like like we’ve talked about his the ability to get to the basket, of course, the way he defends, like he completely outplayed expectations, even though I think we all knew that he was going to be a fan favorite. Like he did more than expected and they didn’t have to give him like a four-year overpay, you know? So, I I think that was a win in itself. Of course, the Powell was a win in itself. I think the Casper thing, like I know we’ve kind of moved on from it, but that’s something exciting like when like the Heat don’t really get point guard prospects. And look, I get it like other guys sort of surpassed him. other prospects um surpassed him later on in the college year, but for much of it, he was considered the second best point guard um prospect in the draft before he had his uh wrist and arm injuries and stuff where he kind of had a drop off in his uh percentages. So, I just think it’s one of those things where it’s like, you know, it’s like a little bit it’s something different right now. Although, I don’t think we’re going to see much of Casper this season. Hopefully, we do with the hero injury. I think, you know, like the Powell and Casper’s things, you know, those moves specifically, I think are refreshing, but you know, like, are you okay with the roster? I guess, you know, like guess like it’s good. They they got a big man. They needed another big man for sure. They needed to clear up that hole. It’s just that the the last thing here of course other than like the the roster not being like great like nobody expects them to win multiple playoff series nothing like that is that you know the the the elephant in the room which is Terry you know like it seems like you know since not to like we we can’t understate how crazy it was that Precious took a completely non-g guaranteed deal that’s not really something you see with people that were first round picks and have multiple years of experience were on a team last year it’s not like a former first round pick that wasn’t playing anymore. You know, shows how bad the market is for those guys, by the way. Yeah. A lot of guys left overseas, but because of that, the Heat now can kind of wait it out a little bit. I’m sure they’ll probably like I’m guessing they’d rather keep Precious than not like after after this, right? Like just to have the extra big on the roster like we’ve been talking about, but it gives them time to figure something out with Terry where they didn’t have to make that decision right now. That’s basically what what it signaled to me where it’s like if it feels like they kind of uh promised Precious a spot if he just does his job and and plays well and you know whereas like now they have until January to figure out if they’re going to trade Terry and maybe they end up just deciding to wave him after all. I don’t think a buyout’s going to happen but uh yeah like now they don’t have to just completely punt on the small possibility of trady. [Music] That’s insane. Well, it’s been a long off seasonason. Uh well, look, they’ve done this before and not ended up keeping the guy. Nier Little is a good example. Was that a couple years ago? They brought him in and then decided no. Um yeah, and but with with Precious again, they know what they’re getting. It does give them some flexibility. I I just they just need to deaf with him more. I I I think the best thing we can say about this offseason is they didn’t dig themselves any additional holes. Like they gave up they gave up the No, I’m see I mean they they gave up the one second round pick to get off of Highmith. Okay. But they were going to trade Heismith anyway in the Norm Powell deal if the Clippers had wanted him. Then they probably would have they would have kept K Love. Um but they, you know, they had to give up the one second round pick. The the one that they got is never going to materialize. And that’s basically it. What are you What are you laughing at? They said they didn’t they didn’t give up anything we stressed. I’m sorry. We can end this, but it’s really funny to me that we’ve gone from you saying now in front of the 25 26 season, they just didn’t dig the hole deeper. And at one moment, like there was a time where we used to say they got them all discounted and now today it’s they didn’t dig the hole deeper. So, it’s just perspective. Uh, as we gear up for media day coming soon, not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven. It’s like around big traded. Is that what to Yeah. did not seven seven round second round picks trade. They don’t have any left, right? They don’t really Yeah, thank goodness. They they they don’t have any left. Pretty soon they’re gonna start they’re gonna start trading uh beat writers. Um so we’ll see. We’ll see. We’ll see what Well, I won’t command anything. We’ll see. How much uh are we going to be doing episodes debating like the the value on the trade market of Anthony Chang, Barry Jackson, and Ira? I better get you better get a first for uh for Anthony. That’s that’s all I’ll say. You could probably all three of them I think. That’s Well, that’s that’s uh No, that’s an interesting conversation. We should do that. We should do beat beat Ryder Value. Anyway, we’re out of ideas. So, thank you to the Heat for signing someone and not giving up a ton to do it. And uh and now we go to training camp. We’ll be there at media day on Monday. Actually, I need to chat with you guys afterwards because I just got the list of players we’re going to be interviewing. And then uh training camp on Tuesday at FAU. Have a good one everybody.

The Miami Heat now have seven of their former first-round picks on the roster, as they bring back Precious Achiuwa on a non-guaranteed contract to fill out the frontcourt room. Ethan, Alex and Greg discuss.

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