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The Toronto Raptors revealed on Friday that forward Precious Achiuwa will miss the team’s open practice after suffering a left groin strain during a training camp exercise.
Achiuwa won’t suit up for the team’s preseason opener against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday in Vancouver.
When the team gets back to Toronto, he’ll get another evaluation, and his health will be updated as needed.
Toronto Raptors forward Precious Achiuwa has been diagnosed with partial tears in ligaments in his right ankle.
Achiuwa will wear a walking boot for the next 10 days and will be listed as out indefinitely.
Achiuwa is averaging 8.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 20.4 minutes in 12 games this season. He has scored in double figures seven times with two double-doubles.
The Toronto Raptors have exercised the third-year team option on the rookie scale contract of Scottie Barnes and the fourth-year team option on the rookie scale contracts of Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn.
All three players are now signed through the 2023-24 season.
The Toronto Raptors announced Friday they have acquired guard Goran Dragic and forward Precious Achiuwa from the Miami Heat as part of a sign-and-trade for six-time All-Star guard Kyle Lowry.
“Kyle Lowry is a great leader and an exceptional defender,” said HEAT President Pat Riley. “As a point guard, he will bring important skills to run the offense, score the ball and defend with the very best.”
Lowry is Toronto’s all-time leader in assists (4,277), steals (873), three-pointers made (1,518) and triple-doubles (16). He is one of two players (along with DeMar DeRozan) to represent the Raptors in nine different seasons, accumulating 365 regular season wins and 44 playoff victories to make him the winningest player in franchise history. Lowry averaged 17.5 points, 7.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 34.6 minutes, while shooting .425 from the field (3,376-7,944) and .377 from three-point range (1,518-4,031) in 601 regular season contests.
Lowry was acquired July 11, 2012 from the Houston Rockets in exchange for Gary Forbes and a first-round draft pick. During his second season (2013-14) Lowry played a key role in leading the Raptors to the playoffs for the first time since 2008. This sparked a streak of seven consecutive playoff appearances (2014-20), six Atlantic Division titles, five 50-win seasons, two trips to the Eastern Conference Finals and the Raptors’ first NBA championship title in 2019. In the series-clinching victory June 13, 2019 at Golden State, Lowry scored Toronto’s first 11 points of the game and finished with a team-high 26 points.
Lowry had a personal streak of six consecutive NBA All-Star selections (2015-20) during this period, including being voted in as a starter twice (2015 and 2016). He earned third team All-NBA honours during the 2015-16 campaign after averaging 21.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and leading Toronto to a then franchise-record 56 wins.
Dragic, 6-foot-3, 190 pounds is a 13-year NBA veteran who holds career averages of 13.9 points, 4.8 assists and 3.1 rebounds in 67 regular-season games with Phoenix, Houston and Miami. He averaged a career-best 20.3 points and 5.9 assists during the 2013-14 season with Phoenix and was named the NBA’s Most Improved Player. Dragic also earned third-team All-NBA honors for the 2013-14 campaign. In 2016-17 with Miami he averaged 20.3 points and 5.8 assists and was named to the 2018 Eastern Conference All-Star Team.
Achiuwa, 6-foot-9, 235 pounds, was picked 20th overall by Miami in the 2020 NBA Draft. He averaged 5.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 12.1 minutes in 61 games (four starts) during his rookie season. Achiuwa scored a season-high 23 points in the regular-season finale May 16 at Detroit and recorded three double-doubles.
A native of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, Achiuwa played one season at the University of Memphis, where he averaged 15.8 points, 10.8 rebounds (led AAC) and 30.4 minutes in 31 contests. For his efforts, he was named American Athletic Conference Player and Freshman (AAC) of the Year.
The Miami Heat continue to do a great job on draft day. Via the Miami Herald:
This sounds familiar: A Miami Heat rookie outperforming his draft position.
It happened with Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro in past years, and it’s happening — to a lesser extent — with Precious Achiuwa, the 20th overall pick who has contributed more than several players picked ahead of him.
Achiuwa leads all rookies in field-goal percentage (57.9) and is second among all rookies (behind Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart) and 30th in the league in rebounds per 36 minutes at 10.3, ahead of Bam Adebayo’s 10.1.
Achiuwa ranks 18th in scoring among rookies at 6.1 per game.
The Heat are just 18-18 this season, which is the Eastern conference’s sixth best record. They’re being led in scoring by Jimmy Butler at 20.5 points per game (just 22 games played), Bam Adebayo at 19.2 ppg, and Tyler Herro at 15.8 ppg.
The Miami Heat have signed rookie Precious Achiuwa.
Achiuwa (whose name is pronounced “ah-CHEW-uh”), was drafted 20th overall in the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft by the Heat. He did big things in college basketball, having been named 2019-20 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year
In his one season of college hoops at Memphis, Achiuwa played in 31 games (all starts) and averaged 15.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.87 blocks, 1.10 steals, 1.0 assists and 30.5 minutes, shooting 49.3 percent from the field.
He was an All-AAC First Team, an All-AAC Freshman Team and an NABC All-District 24 First Team selection.
Achiuwa was the only player in the AAC to rank in the top five in rebounding (1st), blocks (3rd), scoring (5th) and field goal percentage (5th).
He was the only freshman in the nation to average a double-double as he led all freshman nationally with 18.
His 18 double-doubles also tied for the seventh-most ever during a single season in school history as he finished seventh in the nation in double-doubles and 13th in rebounds per game.
Achiuwa grabbed 334 rebounds, the second-most by a Memphis freshman in program history and just 11 short from tying the all-time record. He led the Tigers in points (489), total rebounds, defensive rebounds (241), offensive rebounds (93), blocks (58), field goals made (182), free throws made (112) and double-doubles.
For the Heat, Achiuwa will wear number 15.
With the 2020 NBA draft just over three weeks away, here’s the San Antonio Express News on a prospect the Spurs may have interest in:
Freshman forward Precious Achiuwa was thrust into the limelight at Memphis last season, after would-be star James Wiseman announced in December he was leaving school to focus on the NBA draft.
The decision could end up paying dividends for both players.
Wiseman, a freakishly talented 7-foot-1 center, is in the mix to be drafted No. 1 overall.
Achiuwa, meanwhile, played well enough in Wiseman’s absence to position himself as a potential lottery pick.
The high-energy 21-year-old is among the players the Spurs are known to be considering with the 11th pick.
Here’s ESPN.com reporting on a top prospect for the next NBA draft:
Memphis freshman forward Precious Achiuwa is entering the 2020 NBA draft, he told ESPN on Friday…
Achiuwa, the No. 12 prospect in the ESPN Top 100, emerged as one of the most productive freshmen in college basketball, winning American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors.
He averaged 15.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 1.1 steals for the Tigers, establishing himself as one of the most versatile defenders in the country.
Achiuwa is listed at 6-foot-9, 225 lbs, and was born in Queens, New York.
The draft is scheduled for its usual time — late June — though the NBA may issue some scheduling updates in May that could change just about anything as far as 2020 events are concerned.