When the Toronto Raptors sent Kyle Lowry away to the Miami Heat in the offseason, they received Goran Dragic and Precious Achiuwa, the latter an undersized, athletic center, in return. While he wasn’t the biggest return piece, many have been hoping that the former first-round pick can convert his physical gifts into on-court production and consistency.
The Raptors are five games into the season, Achiuwa is producing, but consistency in his game has yet to be found. The 22-year-old’s counting stats look solid for a young center as he averages 10.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game.
It’s hard to argue with a near double-double average at face value, but when you dig into his shooting splits and defensive performance, those numbers become a little less rosy.
Precious has been struggling to score early on, shooting 42% from the field and 50% from the free-throw line particularly struggling to finish his opportunities around the rim. Despite his speed and verticality, Achiuwa isn’t quite a dominant center just yet.
What should the Toronto Raptors tell the former top recruit to focus on in their quest to turn him into an elite big man?
Can the Toronto Raptors develop Precious Achiuwa?
In a loss against Dallas, Precious had a mixed bag in the paint, scrapping it out for a nice leftie post hook and finishing a beautiful putback early in the game. His passing was worth mentioning as well. For someone his size, he has solid vision and anticipation when identifying passing lanes.
Right through the wickets 👀
— NBA (@NBA) October 24, 2021
Precious Achiuwa finds FVV with the nice dish inside!
📱💻: https://t.co/V0kkYEEIkG pic.twitter.com/69r1Hn4K4f
Still, he plowed through Jalen Brunson for a charge while shanking another hook in which he slowly backed himself away from the net instead of towards it.
Overall, if Precious didn’t have a head of steam and an open lane, he looked uncomfortable getting his shot.
This issue became more prevalent watching the Chicago game. Achiuwa’s paint attempts were mostly comprised of clumsy bullrushes to the net, running head-down straight into defenders as he unsuccessfully tried to fight his way to the net.
Orlando just flat-out ran him over, as Mo Bamba and Wendell Carter looked dominant due to their size.
Rather than focusing on technique, it looks like Achiuwa is trying to force points, and Nick Nurse needs to coach that out of him.
On defense, Achiuwa looks better as a perimeter defender than a post defender. His impressive lateral quickness is keeping him in front of players driving off the wing to a frankly impressive degree, but he hasn’t been able to hold his spot down low all the time.
Being undersized, this isn’t the most surprising development so far. What is surprising is the 0.2 blocks per game accumulated so far. Achiuwa has the hops to get up and slap away a few layups here and there, but he doesn’t have the timing down, which is hopefully something he’ll be able to work on with more minutes.
What is working for Toronto Raptors big Precious Achiuwa?
All this picking apart isn’t to say that Achiuwa hasn’t been doing some things right. His 9.5 boards per game are better than anyone could have expected for a young small-ball. He’s boxing out effectively, allowing him to out-jump other big men, tipping rebounds to himself and others.
As hinted at earlier, Precious’ passing is way better than expected. He’s shown much better instincts than you’d expect from a young non-point guard. If he can combine that vision with his ability to bring the ball down the court, Precious could unearth some point-forward/point-center usability a la Pascal Siakam.
It’s not an easy skill set to develop, but if Pascal and this staff can help teach him, it’s a possibility. Achiuwa earned Draymond Green comparisons in the offseason, and he’s shown some brief flashes of potentially reaching a plateau as lofty as that.
Dragic on Achiuwa: "If I'm honest, last year they put him a little bit into a box. Of course, it's a rookie and everything. He just ran hard, set screens, roll, catch the lobs, rebound. But this year we can already see in preseason that he can do much more."
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) October 19, 2021
In addition to rim protection, Achiuwa needs to work on becoming a better shooter.
Precious has a decent shooting touch, something that’s sorely needed for a big that’s more comfortable driving the ball into the paint than catching it in the post. The problem is, out of his 60 shot attempts, Achiuwa’s only taken 14 shots outside the paint and eight from 3-point range.
With this season being more focused on development than winning a championship, Achiuwa should hoist a few jumpers here and there. If he can hit at an even semi-consistent clip, it’ll allow him to build a pump-fake and drive game that would really boost his ability to get open and finish in the lane.
A versatile offensive game never hurt anyone, so if the coaching staff gives him the green light, there’s no reason not to go for it.
Overall, Achiuwa is still raw. He’s got the tools, but he has to use them more efficiently and effectively. He’s got all the potential in the world, and it’s still super early in the season. Hopefully, with more playing time and more experience, he’ll learn how to put it all together.