Center of attention
If Adams is injured, who can fill his position?
Steven Adams felt a little something, but maybe it was nothing.
The Thunder center took a spill Tuesday night in Tulsa, the result of a flagrant foul from Houston’s James Harden in the Rockets’ 104-97 preseason win against Oklahoma City.
Afterward, Adams said the pain he felt after Harden pulled him to the floor was “more gluteish” than in his back, and though he left the game after the third-quarter foul and didn’t return, he later dispelled any suggestion of serious injury.
“I’ll be fine, mate,” Adams said. “They got me on some drugs.”
Still, Adams’ absence brought to the forefront a question that lingers for the Thunder this preseason.
When Adams is on the bench, who’s manning the middle?
It’s an unknown with additional intrigue this week, as the Thunder prepares for a Friday preseason game against the towering New Orleans Pelicans and a front line of All-Stars DeMarcus Cousins at center and Anthony Davis at power forward.
OKC shored up its starting lineup – and sharpened its offense – with the Sept. 23 trade that brought Carmelo Anthony to town. But it required shipping Enes Kanter to the New York Knicks, and that left the Thunder without a clear-cut backup center.
Kanter had well-documented defensive issues as OKC’s second-unit center. But he was a high-level
scorer, and Thunder coach Billy Donovan called him “maybe the best offensive rebounder in the game.”
There isn’t a reserve center on the roster with that pedigree. So the Thunder likely will solve the position by committee.
“I think the versatility of moving around those guys is something we need to look at, guys playing multiple positions,” Donovan said. “I think we have the ability.”
That probably means more time at center for Jerami Grant, who played the position 1 percent of his minutes last season, according to Basketball- Reference.com’s play- by-play data. When he’s healthy,
power forward Patrick Patterson also could see some time at the five, where he played 9 percent of his minutes last season with Toronto, according to Basketball-Reference.
And though he’s unlikely to see significant time, 7-foot rookie Dakari Johnson is “more of a true center,” Donovan said, a bruiser who could see some situational minutes against bigger teams. He played 11 minutes Tuesday after Adams left the game.
Still, Grant remains the most likely option to see an increase in minutes in the middle.
At 6-foot-9 and 220 pounds, he’s hardly a traditional fit there.
But brawny low-post scorers are out of fashion
in the NBA. Even Cousins, perhaps the league’s most forceful five, often plays away from the basket, shooting 3-pointers and lobbing lobs to Davis.
The Thunder likely will do its best to avoid matching up Grant with powerhouses in the paint.
“I think it’s more situational things,” Grant said of the team’s backup center philosophy. “I don’t think it’s going and putting me at the five when it’s somebody who weighs 300 pounds on the other side.”
Against the small-ball lineups en vogue in the NBA, Grant makes sense at center. He’s quick and athletic, capable of switching onto a playmaker in the pick and roll.
“Jerami is strong, he’s got length,” Donovan said. “He may not necessarily have the size or the height of a center, but he’s got the length to be able to alter and challenge shots. He’s a really good rim protector.”
Patterson isn’t the same kind of shot-blocker – Grant swatted 1.8 shots per 36 minutes last season, Patterson 0.5 – but he has some of the same ability to switch, giving the Thunder defensive flexibility.
Donovan likely will play both of them at center in stretches. Veteran Nick Collison, too, could see spot duty there. With Kanter gone, there’s no center strategy set yet.
“Every situation could be potentially a little different,” Donovan said.