Steven Adams
Houston Rockets

Player Facts

Height: 6'11"
Weight: 265lbs.

Wingspan: 7'4.5"

Date of Birth: July 20, 1993
College Experience: Pitt (1 year)

Selections

All Star: 0
All-NBA: 0
All-Defensive: 0

Player Grades

Speed/Explosiveness: 4
Physical Strength: 10
Positional Size: 10
Positional Wingspan: 10
Paint Scoring: 9
Midrange Scoring: 2
Three-Point Scoring: 1
Dribbling: 4
Passing: 5
Perimeter Defense: 4
Interior Defense: 8
Rebounding: 9

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JUMP TO SECTION

> Intro

> Throwback Big Man

> Rolling to Score

> Post Playmaking & Scoring

> O-Rebounding Persistence

> Pivotal Defensive Piece

> Defending Post-Ups

> Defensive Rebounding

> Large Offensive Holes

> Struggles Containing Speedsters

> Beacon Bacon

>Link to Player Contract & Salary Info

*All short clips courtesy of Smart Highlights, NF Highlights & Z. Highlights (YouTube)

*All statistical data courtesy of NBA Advanced Stats

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STRENGTHS

Intro

Steven Adams is a hulking court presence at a sturdy 265 pounds. He has superb height and length as well, possessing a noteworthy near-7'5" wingspan. Adams couples his gargantuan 6'11" frame with tenacity and smarts to be highly impactful.

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Throwback Big Man

Steven's expectations within the team offense fit the mold more so of a throwback center. As arguably the strongest center in the league, he is called upon often to set bruising picks. These stifling screens unlock numerous positive things within the flow of the offense.

Adams can create roomy driving lanes for teammates as perimeter defenders get bodied by the pick. In New Orleans, he paved the way for his slashing star wings Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson. This helped unlock their dynamic driving abilities.

The Big Kiwi has also manufactured countless high-quality slashing opportunities for players across his Thunder tenure, from Russell Westbrook and Paul George to Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

He was tops in the NBA during 2021-2022 with 416 screen assists, making life much easier for the likes of Ja Morant and Desmond Bane. As a quick side note for a miscellaneous strength, it is well-known that Adams is a very talented jump-baller. This helps him eke out some more value as a player, particularly during any pivotal mid-to-late-game jump balls that he can partake in.

Rolling to Score

Adams shows off his impressive mobility at his size on his dynamic dives to the cup. In addition to carving out space for others to score, Steven is proficient himself when producing points as the roll man. He has a sizable catch radius with that height and length, able to grab and slam alley-oops with one hand. 2021-2022 had him in the 58th percentile for dive man scoring.

Steven also exhibits soft hands when securing pocket passes in traffic. These sequences can end with an Adams push shot if the defensive big has sagged into the restricted area. On shots like these, categorized as non-restricted area paint shots, Steven was more efficient than players like Anthony Davis and Deandre Ayton in 2019-2020.

He is a very strong finisher when he's right at the rim in general. Adams can finish through and over help defense, and overall plays with a high degree of toughness here. Taking off from well outside of the restricted area for slams is a productive way that he leverages his athleticism.

He posted an admirable 69.9% clip inside the restricted area in 2019-2020. Remarkably, he still managed a 59% mark on his shots taken with a defender two to four feet from him that year. To round out Adams' high-level rolling, on the catch he will instantly look to the opposite side and then make that correct next pass.

Post Playmaking & Scoring

Adams provides a vast array of positive contributions from the post. From the high post, he can initiate dribble handoffs or find basket cutters with precise bounce passes. An underrated passer by many, Steven is also skillful at throwing darts out to shooters with his back to the basket.

The 2021-2022 season saw him total the most passes after getting a paint touch. His 193 passes made in these instances were by far the most that year and shines a light on his on-court unselfishness. Runners-up Mason Plumlee, Domantas Sabonis, and then Jakob Poeltl failed to come up with as many of these sorts of feeds.

From a scoring standpoint, Adams continues to be effective in the post. His incredible physical strength allows for textbook seals, powerfully walling off his defender. Steven looks for this particularly after running hard in semi-transition. He can do some good work punishing mismatches following the switch.

Adams finishes his post-up sequences in various ways. For example, he has a smooth hook with a high release point. Conversely, Steven can adeptly play the power game with a quick spin or baseline drop-step followed by a vicious dunk. All in all, Adams was in the 90th percentile for post-up scoring in 2017-2018.

O-Rebounding Persistence

On the offensive boards, Steven plays with the ferocity and physicality that leads to tremendous success. He finished both 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 second in total offensive boards - Adams then led the league in 2021-2022. A unique facet of his rebounding approach is the way he forcibly walks opponents under the rim to neutralize their chance at snagging the rebound.

Adams keeps possessions alive through two-handed offensive rebounds, as well as one-handed smacks back to his guards. On the rebounds he does corral, he goes back up with conviction and raw power. This manifested as a fifth-best 179 putback points in 2021-2022.

His relentlessness here also aids him in drawing fouls. Steven is able to get to the line respectably often given how infrequently he gets a play called for him.

Pivotal Defensive Piece

Steven is a talented defensive anchor for his squad who tends to keep his fouls in check. He's a clever, attentive center on the backline of the defense.

Adams' rim protection goes beyond his relatively pedestrian blocks per game averages, as he alters so many other shots. Holding opponents to 4% below their average within six feet of the rim in 2021-2022 is more indicative of his defensive imprint.

He is quite versatile when considering his size and weight. Adams typically looks comfortable out on the perimeter against guards and wings. He is relatively nimble and keeps his arms up as his man attacks. His fast hands directly led to 179 deflections in 2018-2019, third in the Association among centers.

Defending Post-Ups

His strength plays when checking bigs in the post. Only the strongest, heaviest big men can gain meaningful ground against Steven Adams.

Adams' sound defensive footwork compounds opponents' struggles against him. He held players to 0.85 points per possession in 2018-2019 post-ups, stingier than Rudy Gobert, Serge Ibaka, and Andre Drummond.

Defensive Rebounding

Steven's solid defensive rebounding closes out his defensive profile. He uses the same rebounding technique as he does offensively, comprised of crafty box-outs and swim moves.

Adams showcases good court awareness after snaring boards, launching accurate outlet passes when available. Also of note, 51.6% of his rebounds in 2019-2020 were contested which is a testament to his grit here.

WEAKNESSES

Large Offensive Holes

The bulk of Steven's weak points lie on the offensive end. Some notable holes here include bad free throw shooting and virtually zero jump shot to speak of. He left several points on the table with an uninspiring 54.3% free throw percentage in 2021-2022.

Adams' shooting woes bleed into the rest of his game. In fact, he is extremely reluctant to even take any sort of shot outside the paint. This puts a major ceiling on Steven's offensive impact, though these are not ironclad expectations from centers.

Steven's shot creation is essentially limited to the post. He has slim to no off-the-dribble shot creativity in his arsenal beyond this area. If Adams is kept in check by a talented defender, he's relegated to extracting his points strictly from putbacks and rim runs.

Struggles Containing Speedsters

Shifty guards can give Adams some trouble on the perimeter. Like many bigs, Steven's lateral quickness is far inferior to his speedy counterparts. Still, even nimbler bigs like Myles Turner and Jaren Jackson Jr. do a significantly better job when faced with these challenging scenarios.

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bacon
Beacon Bacon

When he was drafted in 2013, Steven Adams became only the fourth player born in New Zealand to enter the NBA