Heat cut ties with 6-foot-8 ex-Knicks center, skilled Ivy League POY, DPOY guard
An unpredictable season lies ahead for the Miami Heat in 2025-26, especially since their 2025 All-Star Tyler Herro will miss a few weeks to begin the campaign after undergoing surgery on his lower leg.
The Heat are aiming to remain competitive with their 5-time All-Defensive Team selection Bam Adebayo and newly-acquired ex-Los Angeles Clippers scoring guard Norman Powell at the helm, and their bench depth will be a major key to success for the franchise.
Even still, Miami's front office was forced to cut a significant portion of their training camp players and potential reserve options prior to the Oct. 20 deadline to set their regular season roster. Among the players that were sent home, the group was headlined by an ex-
"The Heat has released Precious Achiuwa before his contract started to become guaranteed on opening night," The Miami Herald's Anthony Chiang shared via X on Friday night.
"Achiuwa signed a non-guaranteed one-year deal with Miami last month."
"Heat also waived Ethan Thompson, Dain Dainja and Bez Mbeng tonight."
At just 26 years old, Achiuwa now finds himself as a free agent after helping the Knicks notch their first Eastern Conference Finals berth since 2000 in 2024-25.
In 57 appearances for New York last season, the versatile frontcourt presence averaged 6.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 0.7 blocks in 20.5 minutes.
Along with Achiuwa, several former collegiate standouts like Ethan Thompson, Dain Dainja and Bez Mbeng were dropped from the Heat's roster. The latter of the three was a surprise, due in large part to Miami's announcement that they had
Following a senior season with Yale that saw the 6-foot-4 guard win Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year honors for the third consecutive year and take home his first Ivy League Player of the Year award in 2024-25, Mbeng could have been considered a shoe-in to make the Heat's final roster off the strength of his defensive dominance, alone.
Instead, it appears as though the 6-foot-4 guard could be headed for the Heat's G-League affiliate Sioux Falls Skyforce, where he could receive a fair shot to excel as a defender against NBA-level talent.
Spanning his 29 appearances with Yale as a senior last season, Mbeng compiled box score figures of 13.0 points, 5.8 assists (Ivy League lead), 5.6 rebounds and 1.8 steals (Ivy League lead) while knocking down 36.8% of his three-point attempts.
Utah Jazz just handed the Bulls their perfect Zach Collins replacement
The Bulls weren't exactly loaded with talent or depth at center heading into this season, but the panic meter has spiked with the news that Zach Collins is expected to
Nikola Vucevic will hold down the starting spot up front for the Bulls as long as he's healthy. But the Serbian big man is entering his 15th NBA season, is about to turn 35 years old and is approaching the 1,000 career games played mark. Collins, who just underwent surgery on his left wrist, represented the closest thing head coach Billy Donovan had to a reliable reserve and leaves the 215-pound Jalen Smith as the
Bamba isn't a long-term answer to the Bulls' most pressing question. He shouldn't be counted on to play heavy minutes. But he's still relatively young and has the skill set Chicago should be looking for.
Mo Bamba is the Bulls' perfect Zach Collins cover after release from Jazz
Bamba, still just 27 years old, has elite measurables at 7-feet tall with a 7-foot-10 wingspan, 9-foot-7 standing reach and 36-inch vertical leap. It's easy to see why he was the 6th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, but it's also fair to consider him a bust after seven years of disappointing production.
While Vucevic remains one of the most skilled offensive centers in the league and can still rebound at a solid rate, he's never been a good defender, and that deficiency is only getting more glaring as he ages. Smith is too thin to bang inside on a nightly basis. Matas Buzelis can play as a small-ball five in a pinch, but that's not something Donovan should be ready to rely on.
Bamba undoubtedly comes with flaws. His massive size and rare athleticism should make him an elite shot-blocker, but he's averaged only 1.3 across 364 career games. He showed the potential to be a legitimate stretch five during his lone college campaign with the Texas Longhorns but has never averaged more than 1.5 makes in any NBA season (he did it once when he played a career-high 71 games with the Orlando Magic in 2021-22).
Still, he's a true center who can move, take up space and defend the rim. The Bulls don't have any of those, and they're now even more desperate for one with Collins out. Now that Bamba is available on what would presumably be a veteran's minimum contract, it makes perfect sense for Chicago to add him to an unconvincing big-man group.
