Oklahoma City Thunder: 3 bold predictions for 2019-20 NBA season
1. Steven Adams will be selected to his first NBA All-Star Game
Steven Adams is entering his seventh season in the NBA, and it may be his most productive yet.
The big man from New Zealand has proven to be a solid starting center in the league, but the talent is there for him to be more.
Most people who cover the team assumed that Adams would spend most of his rookie season with the Thunder’s development team, then the Tulsa 66ers. Instead, he appeared in 81 of the team’s 82 regular season games, starting in 20 of them.
Ever since then Adams has seen a steady, and almost perfectly linear, improvement in his statistics and on court production.
| Season | G | GS | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | eFG% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-14 | 81 | 20 | 14.8 | 1.1 | 2.3 | .503 | 1.1 | 2.3 | .503 | .503 | 1.0 | 1.7 | .581 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 4.1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 2.5 | 3.3 |
| 2014-15 | 70 | 67 | 25.3 | 3.1 | 5.7 | .544 | 3.1 | 5.7 | .547 | .544 | 1.5 | 2.9 | .502 | 2.8 | 4.6 | 7.5 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 3.2 | 7.7 |
| 2015-16 | 80 | 80 | 25.2 | 3.3 | 5.3 | .613 | 3.3 | 5.3 | .613 | .613 | 1.4 | 2.5 | .582 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 6.7 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 8.0 |
| 2016-17 | 80 | 80 | 29.9 | 4.7 | 8.2 | .571 | 4.7 | 8.2 | .572 | .571 | 2.0 | 3.2 | .611 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 7.7 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 11.3 |
| 2017-18 | 76 | 76 | 32.7 | 5.9 | 9.4 | .629 | 5.9 | 9.3 | .631 | .629 | 2.1 | 3.8 | .559 | 5.1 | 4.0 | 9.0 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 2.8 | 13.9 |
| 2018-19 | 80 | 80 | 33.4 | 6.0 | 10.1 | .595 | 6.0 | 10.1 | .596 | .595 | 1.8 | 3.7 | .500 | 4.9 | 4.6 | 9.5 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 13.9 |
| Career | 467 | 403 | 26.8 | 4.0 | 6.8 | .588 | 4.0 | 6.8 | .589 | .588 | 1.6 | 2.9 | .553 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 7.4 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 9.7 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/15/2019.
Over the past two seasons Adams has averaged 13.9 points and 9.3 rebounds — along with well above average defense — on a team with two ball-dominant superstars.
Adams has sacrificed stats for the betterment of the team, namely giving up rebounds to clear the way for Westbrook to gobble them up, kick-starting the team in transition.
This season, at least for the start of it, Adams will be playing next to Chris Paul rather than Russell Westbrook. While Westbrook is a better player currently, Paul’s style of play may be better suited to get the most out of Adams.
Paul has typically made his big men better, regardless of what team he’s on.
In Paul’s final two seasons with the Clippers, DeAndre Jordan averaged 12.7 points and 13.8 rebounds. While playing with Paul in Houston Clint Capela averaged 15.3 points and 11.8 rebounds.
While those two centers are different players than Adams and in different circumstances, their stats do represent how Paul gets his big men involved offensively. Both of those bigs also had other All-NBA players on the court with them (Blake Griffin in LA and James Harden in Houston).
In Oklahoma City there are no other All-NBA players left. Aside from Danilo Gallinari, Adams will be Paul’s best offensive weapon.
Last season Adams finished eighth in All-Star voting for the Western Conference front court.
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With more opportunities, less sacrificing of rebounds and a point guard who has a history of allowing his big men to eat, Adams should have the counting stats to get him his first All Star selection in 2020.