Steven Adams is one of the best personalities in the NBA.
But his cheeky smile and love of the word “mate” didn’t earn him his new four-year,
$102 million contract extension. For that, Adams owes his defensive versatility
and his promising scoring ability. Adams has quickly become one of the best defensive
big men in the league, and with his breakout 2016 playoff campaign he has
become one of the most popular young players in the league. $102 million might
seem like a lot of money, but when evaluating new contracts, you need to keep
in mind the salary cap spike that the league just witnessed. Adams average cap
hit over the 4 years his contract extension is good for is $25.5 million. This
is equal to about 27% of the $94 million salary cap for the 2016-17 season.
This means his salary is equivalent to an $18.9 million contract under the old
cap of $70 million. Quite frankly, Adams is worth every penny.
Defense
Steven Adams’ counting stats will never blow you away. He isn’t
going to rack up 3 blocks a game, score 20 points, or average 12 plus rebounds.
However, that does not mean he isn’t making an incredible impact. He is one of
the only centers in the league that can switch onto any position and guard them
reasonably well for a possession. This was key in the Thunder’s series against
the Warriors last playoffs. The Thunder switched on almost every screen, no
matter what personnel they had on the court. Oftentimes, this led to Steven
Adams being left on an island with Steph Curry. That didn’t go as planned for
the Warriors.
Adams didn’t bite on the fakes, kept Curry in front of him,
and contested the shot. All without any help from his teammates. This was a big
part of how the Thunder jumped out to a 3-1 lead. (I won’t talk about what
happened next Thunder fans, don’t worry). Adams versatility on the defensive
end is a key component of the Thunder’s gameplan every night. He allows them to
play Enes Kanter, a major defensive liability, significant minutes because Adams
can anchor the defense in the middle. He can bust small ball lineups by being
able to switch on the perimeter on the defensive end, and then bully his way
inside on the offensive end.
Offense
Adams has shown some potential on the offensive end. Again,
he will never be a 20 point per game scorer. But he picks his spots smartly and
has to be accounted for by the defense. Adams shot over 60% from the field last
season, which is helped by the fact that he doesn’t really shoot from outside
the key. He has shown flashes of a mid-range game however, and that will be key
in his offensive development. Adams runs the floor exceptionally well for a big
man, often finding himself with easy dunk attempts in transition. The only major
weakness in his offensive game is free throw shooting, which is a common flaw
for big men today. Adams is a career 55.7% free throw shooter. So he isn’t Andre
Drummond bad, but he is not good by any means. At times in the playoffs last
season, teams would employ the hack-a-Adams strategy on him. Improving this
would be huge for the Thunder, because it would allow him to stay on the court
more during close games. He is showing some improvement already this year,
currently shooting 100%, albeit on a very small sample size.
Adams is only 23 years old. He is a true 7 footer who can
routinely get under the skin of his opponents. His defensive capabilities are
rare for a big man in today’s NBA. He’ll never wow you with his stats, but he
will wow opponents, coaches, and fans alike with his ability to make an impact
on every single game he plays. And he is only getting better. The Thunder chose
to lock him up now, rather than risk someone offering him a max contract this
offseason that they would have to match. This is a great move by OKC, especially
considering that the new, soon-to-be-official Collective Bargaining Agreement brings
some uncertainty in the terms of restricted free agents, salary caps, and
contract extensions. The Thunder’s young core is locked up for the foreseeable
future, and Adams figures to be a very large piece of it.
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