Adams risks rebuild hell
Steven Adams could be headed for NBA rebuild purgatory if the Oklahoma City Thunder can’t find a willing trade suitor for the Kiwi big man.
The Thunder appear to have hit rebuild mode on the back of the decision by Paul George to force a trade to join Kawhi Leonard at the Los Angeles Clippers, and that leaves Adams dangerously close to a place no established top-level NBA player wants to be.
Since George’s departure, the Thunder have also shipped starting power forward Jerami Grant to the Denver Nuggets for their 2020 first-round draft pick and now, according ESPN’s renowned newsbreaker Adrian Wojnarowski, superstar point guard Russell Westbrook ‘‘welcomes’’ a trade that would send him to a contender, and has expressed an interest in the Miami Heat as a destination.
‘‘Westbrook and his agent, Thad Foucher, have been discussing trade possibilities and scenarios with Presti [Thunder general manager Sam Presti], and the sides are both motivated to find a resolution sooner rather than later, league sources told ESPN,’’ Wojnarowski reported.
Previously The Athletic’s Sams Charania had reported that the Thunder were finally ‘‘receptive’’ to trade calls regarding Westbrook.
The Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks have also been mentioned as potential landing spots for Westbrook, though it’s not clear whether the former league MVP is as enamoured with them as he is being paired with Jimmy Butler on South Beach.
The upshot: Russ appears outta there, as soon as the right deal can be found, presuming one can be engineered for a 30-yearold point guard owed more than US$171m over the next four years.
That in effect blows up the Thunder, with the rebuild to take place around recently acquired point guard Shai GilgeousAlexander and the six first-round draft picks (from 2020 to 2026) OKC have now acquired via the George and Grant trades, with the possibility of more to come.
They also have the rights to swap first-round picks with the Clippers in 2023 and 2025.
Crucially, by moving Grant’s nearly US$9.35m salary for the upcoming season, it’s estimated the Thunder could save as much as US$39m in salary and luxury tax which is another primary consideration for any team in rebuild mode.
There is no sense paying over the top when you have little interest or incentive to win consistently. Presuming the Thunder can move Westbrook, the big question for Kiwi hoops fans is where does it leave Adams?.
Between a rock and a hard place is the short answer.
It is believed the Thunder have been looking to move Adams for some time but have not found a trade partner willing to take on the New Zealander’s salary of US$53.37m for the remaining two years of his contract.
He is a respected centre in the NBA with a game considered more valuable than its raw numbers, but he does not come cheap which appears to be putting potential trade destinations off.
There’s a possibility that Adams could be packaged up with Westbrook in a mega-deal, which might be the Kiwi’s best-case scenario.
The worst would be he stays at OKC and plays out the remaining two years of his deal as an experienced locker-room presence helping to shape a young team in rebuild (read losing) mode.
Given what he’s been used to over his NBA career thus far, that might be a tough proposition for the 25-year-old Kiwi indeed.