Adams: No problems with benching

If Sam Presti was listening, the Oklahoma City Thunder general manager would have been reassured by the final media appearance for the season by his starting centre Steven Adams.

With talk abounding that the Thunder have to shake up their roster after a third straight NBA playoff first-round exit, this time at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers, for the first time in his career the Kiwi big man is finding himself at the centre of trade speculation in the media.

Given that he’s halfway through a four-year, US$100 million contract, and the third highest paid player on the second richest payroll in the entire NBA, it’s natural that Adams’ name comes up in any potential moves the Thunder could make to change their look for next season and beyond.

For starters he is likely more expendable than either Russell Westbrook or Paul George who are the acknowledged faces of the organisation and best two players by some margin.

The decision by coach Billy Donovan to sit Adams for the final quarters of the last two games of the Blazers series can only have added fuel to that fire, even if the Thunder did lose both of those encounters.

Also his contract might be the more tradeable, given Westbrook (five-year US$206m deal through 2022-23) and George (four-year US$137m deal through 2021-22) are both locked in for longer terms at a higher rate.

But if you needed a cast-iron reason why Presti might be reluctant to unload Adams this off-season, the New Zealander’s entertaining and enlightening exit press conference with the media in Oklahoma City might just have provided it.

Adams’ value to the Thunder lies far beyond the points and rebounds he accumulates on the court and the role he has in the game-plan.

It is accepted by those close to the organisation that the 25-year-old big man is a vital locker-room presence whose toughness, selflessness, team-first mindset and willingness to do the little things to make his team better make him someone whose worth far exceeds the numbers in the box score.

Adams’ exit interview lit that up in neon, nothing more brightly than the final question when he was asked what it was like watching the Thunder lose the series while sitting the fourth quarter on the bench.

‘‘Billy thought it was the best decision for the time, and I thought it was actually working really well,’’ said Adams with an approach that contrasts starkly with the mindset of defiant over-shooting point guard Westbrook.

‘‘It wasn’t a real disappointment, apart from losing the game. But it ain’t like this weird thing I should have been playing.

‘‘Your time on the court is not a given and it shouldn’t be expected. The coach needs to put whatever piece he feels that’s going to win us the game. I don’t go in there expecting to play.

‘‘Whatever time he does give me, you’ve got to go in and give your all in that time. More so, since we lost the game it’s more what I could have done better with the time I was already on there as opposed to I would have done this better.’’

That’s Adams to a tee. No giant ego to match his frame. No bristling over a decision that clearly backfired on the Thunder. The team always comes first.

So, did he need to remind himself to be more assertive when he caught the ball in the low post?

‘‘I like to have a successful play. That’s the bottom line. Sometimes it’s me scoring, but a lot of times it’s kicking it out to whoever. All I’m trying to push myself to do is more what is the right play, as opposed to I need to score this ball.

‘‘I don’t think it’s a confidence thing. It’s more my obsession with trying to get a successful play for that possession.’’

It was a similar attitude when he was asked the annual question about what he would be working on over the off-season, and whether expanding his shooting range would be a key part of that.

‘‘It’s still my role to do what I’m doing, and midrange [shots] and three-pointers aren’t in that,’’ he replied.

‘‘I could develop it but that’s just for individual gain or whatever. For the team you still have to focus on what your role is and it’s really trying to lock down on those things.

‘‘But, mate, if I get the word and they’re like ‘hey mate, jack a couple of threes, no worries mate, [I’ll] get in the gym.’’

Given Adams struggled mightily with his freethrow shooting through the 2018-19 season (50 per cent for the regular season, just 37.5 in the playoffs), the New Zealander was real enough to accept that his work-on shot probably didn’t extend out to the arc.

After a discussion on his ability to draw fouls still helping the team regardless of his issues from the line, Adams accepted that working on the cheapie would be high on his priority list for the US summer.

‘‘It’s the same stuff, get with them, go into detail of what I need to work on, watch some film, go into it, and just develop it from there for the team role.’’

Adams was typically bright and breezy during an 18-minute media conference that included a characteristic back-and-forth with one reporter in which he called him out for failing to provide a nod of approval after his answers.

He spoke about constantly talking with his coaches about adjustments in-game and also with referees about his requirements from their perspective.

This is a fellow continually striving to improve his game, which makes his sub-par series against the Blazers (11.9ppg, 7.2rpg) more a blip on the graph (possibly injury related, though he wouldn’t confirm that) than a concerning trend.

Asked what he felt the next step was for the Thunder to win a championship, Adams neatly sidestepped the tricky question that has some media types calling for an extreme makeover in OKC.

‘‘I don’t know, mate, there’s no one answer,’’ he replied. ‘‘There are just too many answers mate. I’d rather not because then you’ll put too much emphasis on it. It’s not one thing – they all play a role, even if it’s the smallest piece, it still has just as much impact as another reason. That’ll do, mate, that’ll do.’’

But he did say it remained a tight unit, despite their travails in 2018-19.

‘‘They’re good locker-room guys, they ain’t trying to be selfish, they’re trying to represent Oklahoma well. So they try to play with a mindset of figuring out how we’re going win, as opposed to how I’m going to get mine. We don’t have that problem at all.

‘‘But you’ve still got to solve the problem: it’s all good being nice guys, you’ve still got a job at hand.’’

And right now the job isn’t being done in OKC, which is why Adams and others are set to come under the microscope this off-season.

‘‘Your time on the court is not a given and it shouldn’t be expected. The coach needs to put whatever piece he feels that’s going to win us the game. I don’t go in there expecting to play.’’