National Basketball Association

What is the role of Steven Adams?

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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With the changes in OKC, what can we expect from one of the new focal points of the team, Steven Adams?

With Serge Ibaka gone, Steven Adams is stepping into new territory. He’s going to be OKC’s primary front court player. Even though he’s not as good as Enes Kanter offensively, he’s much better than Kanter defensively.

When James Harden left a few years ago, Ibaka slowly began to develop his game. He became a better mid-range shooter, which helped on pick and rolls because the defense would pay for sagging off him. Also, defensively Ibaka started to slowly gain more responsibility. Especially, in small ball line ups that placed Durant at the power forward and Ibaka at center. This made him the primary shot blocking force in the paint.

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Although, Steven Adams is coming into his own as a player, he’s still far away from being a true shot blocking presence or a reliable mid-range shooter.

But, there are some things that we can realistically expect from Adams.

First, Adams will improve his ability to defend guards in pick and rolls. In the Playoffs, he struggled when Steph Curry isolated him on the perimeter. But, most guards can’t shoot as well as Curry or Klay Thompson. This means Adams will not struggle with the threat of 3-point shooting that much when he switches on guards. He has great anticipation and court awareness when defending inside 20-15 feet.

Secondly, Adams will average more rebounds. With his expected increase in minutes played, because of Ibaka departure, Adams should be one of the top rebounders in the Western Conference. Also, the length on the court decreases with Durant gone. There were times last year where Durant, Adams and Ibaka would start and play at the same time. This lowered the amount of rebounds each could get.

Third, Steven Adams will score, a lot. This may not seem obvious, but it’s true. Victor Oladipo and Westbrook are two heavy pick and roll players. Oladipo doesn’t play well in isolation the way Durant did. Also, Kanter foot speed is slow at times so having him set screens far away from the basket is not a good idea. The main screener for both Westbrook and Oladipo will be Adams. This means he’ll get a ton of easy baskets this year.

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