Just about a month into his New York Knicks tenure, Precious Achiuwa has lived up to his namesake and then some.
At first glance, Achiuwa figured to be a byproduct of the Dec. 30 trade with the Toronto Raptors, a relative afterthought in the thrill of obtaining OG Anunoby and the emotional farewell to homegrown faces RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley. His early minutes reflected the relative transactional apathy, averaging less than a dozen per game over the first 10.
That's changed in the past four games, which has seen the Knicks work through a lengthy homestand.
Primary interior threat Isaiah Hartenstein, already stepping in for the ailing Mitchell Robinson, has been hampered by a sore Achilles that kept him out of two games entirely and at a drastically reduced pace for the other half. Achiuwa, granted perhaps his most extended opportunity since struggling to fit in with Toronto after his original move from Miami (which made him a first-round pick in 2020), has taken full advantage of his expanded minutes...
- Since Jan. 20, Achiuwa is one of 19 players averaging at least 10 rebounds a game and the only one to be doing so off the bench.
- In that same span, Achiuwa leads the league in offensive rebounds at 4.3 a game alongside Marvin Bagley III (Washington) and Andre Drummond (Chicago). That has allowed the Knicks to keep pace in the second chance points department: they've been in the top five for most of the season (currently trailing only Utah) but have kept the pace up with Hartenstein ailing and Robinson out.
- Achiuwa has played an active role in the Knicks' Anunoby-headlined defensive surge: over the last four parts of the Knicks' active six-game winning streak, Achiuwa holds a defensive rating of 94.7, the third-best among players that have averaged at least 20 minutes a game, behind only Tobias Harris (Philadelphia) and Naz Reid (Minnesota).
What can Achiuwa do for an encore? It might change the course of the Knicks' season.
This magical campaign is at a crossroads after Saturday's game, by far the most bittersweet of the Knicks' entries to the NBA's longest active winning streak. New York has prevailed in each of its past six but endured a potential loss that could prove costly: All-Star power forward Julius Randle was forced to leave while helping the Knicks place the finishing touches on their win over a rival, sustained a dislocated shoulder while driving against Jaime Jaquez Jr.
While early reports hint that the Knicks avoided a major medical catastrophe, any time Randle loses will serve as a reckoning for the Knicks' biggest offseason shortcoming. Sure, Jalen Brunson has probably usurped Randle as the team's headliner but replacing a two-time All-Star is never an easy task no matter how many reinforcements are in tow.
As necessary as trading Obi Toppin may have been, the team failed to find a suitable depth star for such a disaster. Josh Hart feels like the name that will replace Randle in the starting, but he feels like a power forward in name only, especially as he keeps insisting he's more of a backcourt threat. Jericho Sims has the size but has primarily been used as a pure center, which leaves the door wide open for Achiuwa to rise up off the bench.
The basketball gods have saved some of their toughest challenges for the Knicks this season. Achiuwa (along with Miles McBride) has been one of the Knicks' hidden divine weapons in bending their will.
Will his efforts prove eternal? Only time will tell.
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