Oklahoma City Thunder: 5 predictions for 2019-20 season

2. Steven Adams will be with the Thunder at the end of the season

Oklahoma City Thunder fans and NBA rumor sites feasted on Steven Adams trade rumors leading up to the NBA Draft, thinking that the young center would be Oklahoma City’s best trade chip for upgrading the roster.

Obviously those rumors and speculation never came to fruition. While players that seemed like a near lock to stay on the roster — Russell Westbrook, Jerami Grant and Paul George — were traded away, Adams remained.

Now, as the Thunder begin to embark on reshaping their roster around a young core it makes more sense to keep the Kiwi big man around for a while.

Part of the reason that Adams’ name came up so frequently in trade talks over the summer is because of the size of his contract. He is slated to earn $25.8 million this season, then $27.5 million in 2020-21 — the final year of his current contract.

Aside of Westbrook and George, he had the largest salary on the books, which theoretically made the math work on a larger trade.

Now, however, Oklahoma City has a handful of sizable contracts to trade and are no longer in need of veteran help to push the team to title contention.

Pair that with the team being right on the cusp of dropping below the league’s luxury tax and trading Adams doesn’t make a ton of sense, unless another team is willing to give up quality young assets in return.

Adams actually makes a lot of sense as a player to keep around during a rebuild of the team.

Like his mentor Nick Collison, Adams represents the mindset and the culture that Oklahoma City wants its team to exhibit: Tough, hard working, a focus on winning over stats, low maintenance and a willingness to sacrifice.

With longstanding Thundermen like Westbrook now gone, Adams can not only provide on the floor but help create the culture of the team behind closed doors.