After an impressive stint with the Knicks following a midseason trade, Achiuwa will return to New York after being signed for another year. At one point during the 2023-24 season, Achiuwa started 18 consecutive games for the Knicks, averaging 12.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.8 blocks in 36.5 minutes per game. That's especially relevant, given Mitchell Robinson will be sidelined through at least November. New York made a surprising move right before training camp, sending Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to Minnesota in exchange for Karl-Anthony Towns, who'll be the Knicks' starting center. In theory, Achiuwa is the most qualified to begin the year as the primary backup center, though it's possible coach Tom Thibodeau will give Jericho Sims a chance since he's a more traditionally-sized center. Even if that's the case, Achiuwa should still have a consistent reserve role. Ultimately, Achiuwa could make for an interesting late-round dart throw, but not one projected to have season-long value. Read Past Outlooks
$Signed a one-year, $6 million contract with the Knicks in July of 2024.
Personal Bio/PreCareer Summary
Achiuwa was born Sep. 19, 1999 in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. His mother, Eunice, and his father, Donatus, are both Pentecostal ministers. He has three brothers -- God'sgift, God'swill and Promise -- and two sisters -- Grace and Peace. God'sgift played college basketball for St. John's from 2011 to 2014. Precious grew up mainly playing soccer but shifted his focus to basketball in eighth grade, which is when he moved to the United States. During his sophomore and junior years of high school, he played for St. Benedict's Prep in Newark, New Jersey and averaged 18.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.9 blocks and 2.2 steals per game as a junior. He was named to the MaxPreps Junior All-American second team. For his senior campaign, Achiuwa transferred to Montverde Academy, a prep school in Montverde, Florida. There, he averaged 14.0 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, helping the team reach the semifinals at the GEICO High School Nationals. He received various accolades, including USA Today All-USA third team membership. Achiuwa played in the 2019 McDonald's All-American Game, scoring a game-high 22 points, and also played in the 2019 Nike Hoop Summit. He played college basketball at Memphis, where he was named AAC Player of the Year as a freshman, and opted to declare for the 2020 NBA Draft after the season. While Achiuwa often took a backseat to Penny Hardaway's much-hyped recruiting class entering his freshman season at Memphis, the 6-9 forward changed those perceptions by immediately becoming an integral part of the team. Top overall recruit James Wiseman ended up playing just three games on the season, but Achiuwa was up to the significant task of replacing his high level of production. He ended up averaging 15.8 points and 10.8 rebounds, collecting 18 double-doubles along the way. Achiuwa scored a college career high of 25 points twice, but arguably his best game was Feb. 29 against Tulane, when he tallied up 22 points, 22 rebounds and five blocks. Achiuwa ultimately led the American conference in total rebounds on his way to winning both AAC Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year honors. He didn't miss a game the entire season and was still second in the conference in shooting percentage (.493). Achiuwa brought it on the defensive end as well, finishing third in the conference with 1.9 blocks per game and leading the way in defensive win shares.
Will miss time with hamstring strain
CNew York Knicks
Hamstring
October 20, 2024
Achiuwa sustained a strained left hamstring in Friday's preseason finale against the Wizards and will be re-evaluated in 2-to-4 weeks, James L. Edwards III of The Athletic reports.
ANALYSIS Achiuwa's injury is another blow to an already thin Knicks frontcourt, as center Mitchell Robinson (ankle) is expected to miss significant time to begin the season. With Achiuwa and Robinson both sidelined, Karl-Anthony Towns will likely see the overwhelming majority of his minutes at center early on this season, while a spot in the rotation could open up for Jericho Sims as Towns' backup. Even if Achiuwa is cleared to resume on-court activity once he's re-evaluated, he could still need some time to ramp back up before the Knicks clear him for game action.
2024 NBA Per Game Split Stats - Starting/Off Bench
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2024 NBA Per Game Split Stats - Days Rest
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2024 NBA Per Game Split Stats - By Result
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Advanced Stats
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2023
2022
2021
2020
Stat Review
How does Precious Achiuwa compare to other players?
This section compares his stats with all players from the previous three seasons (minimum 200 minutes played)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
True Shooting %
An advanced statistic that measures a player's efficiency at shooting the ball that takes field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and three point percentage into account.
Effective Field Goal %
A statistic that adjusts field goal percentage to account for the fact that three-point field goals count for three points while field goals only count for two points.
3-Point Attempt Rate
Percentage of field goal attempts from three point range.
Free Throw Rate
Number of free throw attempts per field goal attempt.
Offensive Rebound %
An estimate of the percentage of available offensive rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
Defensive Rebound %
An estimate of the percentage of available defensive rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
Total Rebound %
An estimate of the percentage of available rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
Assist %
An estimate of the percentage of teammate field goals a player assisted while they were on the floor.
Steal %
An estimate of the percentage of opponent possessions that end with a steal by the player while they were on the floor.
Block %
An estimate of the percentage of opponent two-point field goal attempts blocked by the player while they were on the floor.
Turnover %
An estimate of turnovers committed per 100 plays.
Usage %
An estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while they were on the floor.
Fantasy Points Per Game
NBA Fantasy Points Per Game.
Fantasy Points Per Minute
NBA Fantasy Points Per Minute.
True Shooting %
56.4%
Effective Field Goal %
54.7%
3-Point Attempt Rate
16.7%
Free Throw Rate
23.4%
Offensive Rebound %
13.3%
Defensive Rebound %
20.0%
Total Rebound %
16.6%
Assist %
6.2%
Steal %
1.1%
Block %
4.4%
Turnover %
12.3%
Usage %
0.0%
Fantasy Points Per Game
22.0
Fantasy Points Per Minute
0.9
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Total
Per Game
Per 36
NBA Historical Fantasy Stats
How are these ratings calculated?
Our historical fantasy ratings are standard scores calculated using 8-Category settings with 12 teams and 13 players per team.
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NBA Per Game Historical Fantasy Stats
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NBA Per 36 Historical Fantasy Stats
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Historical ADP
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Knicks Depth Chart
Our full team depth charts are reserved for RotoWire subscribers.
Average Fantasy Points are determined when Precious Achiuwa was active vs. non-active during the season. Click here to view average fantasy points for a different time period.
Minutes
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
2021
Achiuwa provided serviceable value at times throughout the 2022-23 season, despite missing a number of games due to an ankle injury. He put up strong numbers following his return to the lineup, although the midseason acquisition of Jakob Poeltl put an end to any fantasy upside he had. Achiuwa finished as the 235th-ranked player on a per-game basis, averaging 9.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.1 combined steals and blocks. However, he is relatively inefficient for a center, shooting just 48.5 percent from the field. He also possesses very little upside in terms of assist numbers, averaging 0.9 per game. Given the makeup of the roster in Toronto, Achiuwa is likely to spend most of the season as a backup behind Poeltl, vying for minutes with Chris Boucher and Christian Koloko. Outside of very deep leagues, he should not be on the fantasy radar barring an injury to Poeltl.
After his rookie season, the Heat dealt Achiuwa to the Raptors the following summer in the deal that sent Kyle Lowry to South Beach. Achiuwa saw more action in Toronto, garnering 28 starts in 73 games as the team contended with frontcourt injuries. Across his 23.6 minutes per game, the Memphis product averaged 9.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.1 combined blocks-plus-steals. The soon-to-be 23-year-old added a three-pointer to his arsenal, though it didn't result in more efficiency. His true shooting percentage fell to a rough 50.3 percent (especially bad for bigs), as he slashed 44/36/60 with 0.8 three-point makes per game. The variety will help keep the undersized 6-foot-8 center on the court in more lineup combinations, but his struggles shooting at the rim (59%, in the 13th percentile for bigs) need to be addressed. While it's encouraging that he was asked to do more last season than he did as a rookie, the results shouldn't give fantasy managers confidence that the Raptors view him as a valuable rotation piece. He'll still be in the fold, but he'll compete for backup frontcourt minutes with Khem Birch, Chris Boucher, Thaddeus Young, Otto Porter and Juancho Hernangomez. It's nearly a guarantee that Achiuwa will see fewer minutes this season under the assumption the team is healthier. As a result, Achiuwa can be ignored in standard fantasy drafts, and he doesn't present much upside for deep leagues, either. As it stands, he's mostly just a dynasty/keeper league flier.
The 20th overall pick in 2020, Achiuwa had a solid rookie season. He maintained a relatively consistent role in the Heat's rotation, appearing in 61 games and averaging 5.0 points and 3.4 rebounds in 12.1 minutes. He's aggressive in getting to the basket, as he took 83 percent of his shots at the rim and was fouled on 23.2 percent of his attempts -- one of the highest marks in the NBA. He was also able to show upside as a rebounder (10.2 rebounds per 36 minutes) and defender (1.4 blocks and 1.0 steals per 36 minutes). Achiuwa will be in a new environment this season, as he was dealt from Miami to Toronto in the trade that landed Kyle Lowry with the Heat. With the Raptors, Achiuwa will have a chance to compete for reserve frontcourt minutes with rookie Scottie Barnes, Chris Boucher, Khem Birch and Yuta Watanabe. It's certainly possible that Achiuwa sees more than 12 minutes per game in his second season. Optimistically, he could see minutes in the low-to-mid 20s, especially while Pascal Siakam (shoulder) recovers from surgery. It's probably not worth it to draft Achiuwa in standard leagues, but he could be worth a flier with a final pick in a deep league, and he's certainly still someone to consider in dynasty.
More Fantasy News
Heads to locker room Friday
CNew York Knicks
Hamstring
October 18, 2024
Achiuwa departed Friday's preseason game against the Wizards in the fourth quarter due to an apparent hamstring injury, James L. Edwards III of The Athletic reports.
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Dominant showing in spot start
CNew York Knicks
October 16, 2024
Achiuwa supplied 20 points (8-15 FG, 2-3 3Pt, 2-2 FT), 16 rebounds and three assists across 35 minutes in Tuesday's 111-105 preseason win over the Hornets.
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Returning to New York
CNew York Knicks
July 30, 2024
The Knicks re-signed Achiuwa on Tuesday to a one-year, $6 million contract.
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Could make big impact in 2024-25
CNew York Knicks
October 14, 2024
Achiuwa is mentioned as one of several role players who could outperform expectations in the 2024-25 season, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic.
ANALYSIS The Knicks won't have Mitchell Robinson at the start of the season, and after losing Isaiah Hartenstein in the offseason, Achiuwa seems like the only player capable of logging heavy minutes at the center position, assuming Jericho Sims is not ready for a starter-level workload. Achiuwa's versatility is a plus as well, as he can play both frontcourt roles due to his 6-foot-8, 225-pound frame.