Steven Adams' Emergence Elevates Oklahoma City Thunder's Ceiling
The Oklahoma City Thunder never had a center who could contribute at both ends of the court until Steven Adams came along.
Through 34 games of his second NBA season (first as a starter), he's averaging 7.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks. He's also shooting 53.3 percent from the field.
Finally back at full strength, the Thunder are a dangerous team even without Adams in the fold.
Kevin Durant is starting to regain his MVP form, scoring 78 points combined in his first two games back from a sprained ankle. Russell Westbrook is the unofficial NBA scoring leader (hasn't played 70 percent of his team's games to qualify) with 27.3 points per game. Serge Ibaka has added improved three-point accuracy (career-high 40.7 percent) to go along with his reputation as one of the league's best shot-blockers (fourth in the NBA with 2.24 rejections per game).
However, the big Kiwi's continued development makes Oklahoma City even more formidable. Offensively, he has the potential to be the team's first legitimate post threat since the early years of Nick Collison. Meanwhile, his work on the other side of the ball has played a part in the Thunder ranking seventh in defensive efficiency (100.7), per ESPN's Hollinger stats.
Steven Adams: Offensive Weapon?
For quite some time, Oklahoma City has managed to get by on offense without any meaningful contributions from the center position. In the past four seasons, the Thunder never ranked lower than seventh in offensive efficiency, despite defensive maven Kendrick Perkins entrenched as the pivot man.
| Year | Rating | Rank |
| 2013-14 | 108.1 | 7th |
| 2012-13 | 110.2 | 2nd |
| 2011-12 | 107.1 | 2nd |
| 2010-11 | 108.6 | 4th |
With the transition from Perkins to Adams as the team's starting center, the offense now has a new dimension to explore. While still raw at just 21 years old, Adams possesses a mix of size (7'0", 255 pounds), speed, athleticism and toughness to be a weapon.
Per Basketball-Reference, the Thunder have an offensive rating of 108.3 when Adams is on the floor. When he's on the bench, that number dips to 103.3.
The most effective way Oklahoma City gets Adams involved is on the pick-and-roll, where he and Westbrook have become a solid pair. When setting screens, Adams obliterates opponents (like this one on the Phoenix Suns' Gerald Green) with the kind of intensity that would make John Cena smirk.
When rolling to the basket, Adams has displayed the soft hands to be able to catch Westbrook's fastballs while using his size and athleticism to finish at the rim. Here's an example from the team's Dec. 9 clash with the Milwaukee Bucks:
In the post, Adams still has some work to do. He's converting 64 percent of his attempts at the rim but nailing only 38.3 percent of his hook shots, per Basketball-Reference. Until he develops a true go-to move, the majority of his scoring will likely come on dunks and other easy baskets.
Still, he gives the Thunder something they haven't had in a long time and never really had during the Perkins era: a big man defenses have to account for on the offensive end. Oklahoma City no longer has to play four-on-five. The better he gets, the more versatile the team can become.
Improvement on Defense
Defense was always Adams' strong suit. He was a good shot-blocker in his lone season at the University of Pittsburgh (two blocks per game), and that has carried over to the pros. He's averaging 1.2 swats and has combined with Ibaka to form one of the best rim-protecting duos in the league.
| Names | Team | Combined Blocks Per Game |
| 1. Anthony Davis/Omer Asik | NOP | 3.8 |
| 2. Pau Gasol/Joakim Noah | CHI | 3.7 |
| 3. Rudy Gobert/Derrick Favors | UTA | 3.5 |
| 4. Serge Ibaka/Steven Adams | OKC | 3.4 |
| 5. DeAndre Jordan/Blake Griffin | LAC | 2.8 |
However, Adams has lately made big strides maintaining his trademark defensive aggressiveness, but now without drawing referees' ire. After accumulating 56 fouls in the first 17 games of the season (3.3 per contest), Adams has managed to get whistled only 43 times (2.5 a night) in his past 17 games.
Head coach Scott Brooks has noticed the improvement, per Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman: "[He's] staying in between his man and the basket. Not putting himself in the position to foul. When he’s jumping, he’s jumping straight up and he’s the second jumper."
The extra time spent on the court as opposed to on the bench in foul trouble has allowed Adams to hone a reputation as one of the league's better defensive centers. Per NBA.com, opponents are shooting 44.8 percent when Adams is defending the shot, compared to 47.8 percent otherwise. Opponents are also converting 51.8 percent of their shots within six feet against Adams, as opposed to 59.5 percent normally.
Advanced statistics seem to favor Adams' strong D as well. He's posting a defensive rating of 101, which is on par with top-notch defenders such as the Chicago Bulls' Joakim Noah and New Orleans Pelicans phenom Anthony Davis.
He has a block percentage (an estimate of shot attempts blocked when a player is on the floor) of 3.9, which is tied with the Houston Rockets' Josh Smith and slightly below Memphis Grizzlies big man Marc Gasol (4.0). Adams also ranks 19th in the NBA with a defensive box plus/minus (defensive points per 100 possessions a player contributes above league average) of 2.3.
The big man from New Zealand credits Perkins for his improvement on the defensive end, per Slater.
"I always go to Perk," Adams said. "Perk knows like everyone. He should write a book. It’s crazy. He knows all their tendencies and I just try to do what he does."
Adams' due diligence led to his best game of the season in a Christmas showdown with the San Antonio Spurs. He finished with 16 points, 15 boards, three blocks and two steals, but his work against Tim Duncan stood out the most, as Slater points out:
"Adams stoned Duncan on a number of isolation post-ups — even throwing back his shot on one particularly impressive defensive play — which allowed the other Thunder to stay home on San Antonio’s array of shooters. In the game, Adams had a plus/minus of plus-27. Duncan’s was minus-34, the worst of his 19-year career.
"
While Adams has yet to replicate his Christmas performance, that game should be seen as his coming-out party. When you hold your own on national television against a future Hall of Famer and one of the greatest players to ever lace up a pair of sneakers, the world is bound to take notice.
It's amazing to see how far Adams has come in less than a year. Around this time last year, he was a diamond in the rough playing sparingly as Kendrick Perkins' backup. Now, he is on his way to becoming the best all-around center in the short history of the Oklahoma City Thunder franchise.
Off the court, his outgoing personality makes him easy to root for, from his crazy handshakes with Nick Collison to his entertaining videos with Reggie Jackson to that fantastic mustache.
On the court, his physicality and toughness give this Thunder team a new identity.
Oklahoma City was already a strong championship contender before Adams came along. Now that he's entrenched as the team's big man of the future, his continued growth is bound to take Oklahoma City to new heights.
Note: All stats current as of Jan. 4 and are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com, unless otherwise noted.
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