Can Precious Achiuwa build off impressive second half of 2021-22 season?

Amit Mann and Esfandiar Baraheni discuss the role of Precious Achiuwa in the Raptors' offence and what kind of per-game averages fans can expect. Full episode projecting the per-game stats for Scottie Barnes, Pascal Siakam and more is available on the Raptors Over Everything podcast feed and on our Yahoo Sports Canada YouTube channel.

Video Transcript

AMIT MANN: OK, bench guys-- well, maybe not a bench guy for Precious Achiuwa.

ESFANDIAR BARAHENI: [LAUGHS]

AMIT MANN: I'm looking at the post-All-Star numbers for Precious and Chris. Let's start with Precious. Post-All-Star Break, 24 minutes per game, 12 points, 46% shooting, 39% from 3, 5.7 rebounds, 40% on catch-and-shoot 3's.

I think if he repeats that, we're in pretty good shape. And the minutes may go up, so perhaps we see some-- 14 points, 13 points at times. Maybe he has a few breakout games. I think the goal still will be to take some of the pressure off of Pascal, OG, and Scottie in terms of minutes. And Precious and Chris Boucher, they're going to be trusted to be those guys that can do that.

ESFANDIAR BARAHENI: Yeah, he's going to be a guy that will have to rely on his athleticism a lot this season.

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

ESFANDIAR BARAHENI: And I think that just comes down to being a release valve for the offense if he's on the starters, or even if he's on the bench. It's like, look, an action happens on the strong side. And like, it gets thrown to him on the weak side. Attack the closeout, and then try to finish at the rim or create for another guy. I think that's a typical offensive possession for Precious.

And obviously, the jump shot is something that's ever-evolving. If it sticks, it sticks. Sure, let's keep rolling with it.

But I think one of the big things for me is like, look, can he be a little bit more concise with his actions? I think we saw that throughout the year, where it's like he was lost in the wind for the first 41 games.

AMIT MANN: Yeah, yeah.

ESFANDIAR BARAHENI: And then the second half, he was so much more decisive. He knew what he wanted to do on the court. And I think that was huge.

I listened to his scrum a couple of days ago in BC. And I just love the way he was so sure of what he-- like, it was like a switch went off in his head. And the way he was talking is just like, yes, I understand who I can be now as a basketball player. It really helped me out in that second half to be like, who I can be.

AMIT MANN: Sure.

ESFANDIAR BARAHENI: And you know, he mentioned the All-Defense stuff. I could see the defensive numbers going up a little bit more. But I think in terms of offensively, it's just having a more efficient season. And that comes down to him being a little bit more concise, a little bit more decisive with his actions on offense.

And I think that's possible. I think what he showed post-All-Star Break is exactly the type of player that I'm explaining right now.

AMIT MANN: Concise is a good way to put it. Because I think sometimes, it got a little bit scrambly. And, like, being able to read the second level of defense, knowing where the low man's going to be, he struggled with that a lot, which is OK.

I mean, like, Joel Embiid blocking the hell out of him a couple of times during that 76ers series, like, that's OK. That's part of his transition into understanding how to read that level of defense, and when can a player get there, and can he take two dribbles, three dribbles, and still finish through contact, that kind of stuff. That is all part of his maturation.

I just love the idea of him, as you said, being more concise with his offense. What are you going to do? Are you taking the shot? If you're not, are you going to attack the closeout? Are you going to be able to find the open man?

When you do decide to go one-on-one, is it in transition? Do you actually have space around you? Do you really have space? Because he can do it. He's showed us that he has that ability to attack players on the offensive end, around the free throw line extended area.

He can do it sometimes. But when are the right times to do it? And I think that's his decision-making. That's, like, the next step of his process as an offensive player.

And then defensively, holy smokes, like, he could be the guy closing for the Raptors sometimes. He could be the guy guarding LeBron, guarding KD, that kind of stuff. I think Nick still wants OG to be that guy, and rightly so. But if the switch happens, you're not concerned. You're like--

ESFANDIAR BARAHENI: You're not worried, yeah.

AMIT MANN: --yeah, this is OK. And that is a huge asset.

ESFANDIAR BARAHENI: I think the biggest part that you just mentioned to me that kind of caught my eye is like, look, we know that with Scottie increasing his role, with Pascal having more on-ball reps, with OG potentially having more on-ball reps, whatever happens with Gary and VanVleet-- I'm pretty sure you can imagine those will be around the same of what we saw last season-- with Precious, there's not going to be many opportunities for him to try and create his own shot. And I think that's something that's OK.

Because in this stage of his development, it's like, can he be good in this small role offensively and make the most of his chances? So look, it's totally possible. I think it's something that we saw with Chris, which we'll probably talk about right now, was he had to find a way to be effective in the moments where he was asked to be effective. It's not-- you don't have to be that 20 point per game scorer, that whatever amount a game scorer. You just have to be right in those moments that they need you, in the possessions that they need you.

So it's kind of similar between Precious and Boucher. It's just that Precious is obviously younger. And I think in terms of development, he's much further along--

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

ESFANDIAR BARAHENI: --than what Boucher was at his age, so.

AMIT MANN: And I'm capping it at Precious and Chris Boucher off the bench. Because I think those top seven are going to be the guys that are going to play the bulk of the minutes. Like, Otto and Thad, they're old. Sometimes Nick Nurse is going to call in old for Thad Young, right? That's going to happen.

We don't know how things are going to go for Otto Porter Jr. yet. There was a lot of rest days for him with the Golden State Warriors. Is that going to continue, or was that just because it was his first season back after a long absence? And obviously, he had a huge role in the playoffs, or did they conserve him for the playoffs?

And then after that, it gets pretty murky. Dalano Banton, Malachi Flynn, and all the yada, yada, yada, there's no point in projecting these stats, right? Because--

ESFANDIAR BARAHENI: Yeah, yeah.

AMIT MANN: --it's not going to be a great sample size.

ESFANDIAR BARAHENI: It's going to be, like, five, six minutes a night for those guys.

AMIT MANN: Yeah, right?

ESFANDIAR BARAHENI: Like, for Otto and for Thad, I imagine they probably-- like, look, we saw Precious is 24 minutes. He probably ends up at around the same. Boucher probably ends up at around the same.

You could see Thad and Otto splitting 25 minutes--

AMIT MANN: Sure.

ESFANDIAR BARAHENI: --26 minutes.

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

ESFANDIAR BARAHENI: So they're each at, like, 13, 14, 15 minutes a game. And that's kind of what you get. Who knows? Maybe Otto's role increases and like, you know, he becomes that eighth guy. I could totally see that happening, too.

But at the same time, you're right. They rested him. He rested back-to-backs in Golden State. So--

AMIT MANN: Right.

ESFANDIAR BARAHENI: --there's no reason to think he's--