Thunder free agency: Ranking the best available bigs in 2024

4. Precious Achiuwa

Over the past several months, the Thunder have frequently been linked to the Knicks as being a possible landing spot for one of their impending free-agent bigs.

Though Precious Achiuwa may not be the name that's regularly mentioned in such chatter, there should still be a certain level of interest in pursuing his services in the event that they can't land his frontcourt running mate.

While he may not be the kind of player who will help them improve upon their height dilemma (measures in at just 6-foot-8), the 24-year-old's play style is much larger than his build, as he's a tough-nosed contributor who will play quality defense, fight for loose balls, bang down low on the boards, and add a level of strength and physicality that was missing from OKC's frontline last year.

Since being selected in the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft, Achiuwa has served as a reserve big within several playoff rotations and, over the past three seasons, has posted solid averages of 8.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and just shy of a block in 22.2 minutes a night.

Though far from the sexiest of players, the big man is also nowhere near a bank breaker, as he'll likely command a per-year salary of anywhere between $6-$10 million.

At that price range and with his specific nitty-gritty athletic intangibles, the Thunder could do far worse than adding a guy like Precious Achiuwa to their physically depleted big-man rotation.