Precious Achiuwa Shares Self-Assessment of His Defensive Skills

Toronto Raptors forward Precious Achiuwa says he's one of the NBA's best defenders and among the five most versatile defenders in the league

Precious Achiuwa knows he’s unique.

He won’t even entertain the notion that he’s anything less than an elite defender.

“You said the other day that you think you might be one of the best defenders in the NBA,” a reporter said as he began asking Achiuwa a question following Toronto Raptors practice Tuesday.

Achiuwa cut him off.

“I know I am one of the best defenders,” he said, emphasizing the point. “I don’t think the numbers say otherwise if you go look at them.”

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In terms of versatility, Achiuwa is right. He ranked in the 94th percentile in defensive role versatility, according to BBall-Index. But while the eye test suggests he’s been an impact defensive player for Toronto, the advanced stats have been a little less generous.

“I know I’m not an average defender,” Achiuwa said. “There’s not five guys in the NBA that guard 1-through-5. I don’t care what team you go look at, but I know I’m one of those five guys. I’ve guarded MVPs that are 5’s, MVPs that are 4’s, point guards that were all-stars. So I’m comfortable guarding every position.”

But there’s always room for improvement and to do so, Achiuwa said he’s been studying his teammate O.G. Anunoby, one of the few equally versatile defenders in the league who also happens to be an All-Defense caliber player. For Achiuwa, it’s about paying attention to the way Anunoby runs through passing lanes to pick off passes, how he reads off-ball movement, and when to gamble compared to when to hang tight on your man.

If Achiuwa can get there, Toronto’s defense will be even tougher to beat with as many as three, four, or five versatile, switchable defenders on the court at all times. For the Raptors, that’s an advantage they want to lean on this year, even if it won’t be to the same extent that it has been over the past couple of seasons.

The goal is to protect the paint, head coach Darko Rajaković has said, and only switch when it’s going to be disruptive for opposing offense.

What’s clear, though, is that versatility and optionality are going to give the Raptors a variety of defensive looks to throw at teams this year and should instill confidence in the rest of the roster that even if they do get beat, there’s someone ready to cover for them.

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“If I guard Damian Lillard or Curry it’s not just me guarding him, it’s a whole team,” said Dennis Schröder. “It’s a five-guys defense and I think that’s how we’ve been playing. When we do that and when we concentrate on that it’s really hard to score on us.”