Steven Adams: OKC Thunder Season In Review

Adams is currently under contract with Oklahoma City until 2021. He’s signed to make $22.4 million next year – a huge increase from the $3.1 he made this year.

Looking to the offseason and the Kiwi’s future with the team, a great place to start is with the exit interviews from this season. I can’t say I particularly minded watching Adams’ interview (several times) in order to provide you with these quotes.

When asked what he had to learn this season, Adams said the main learning curve was learning to play differently on defense.

"“I was used to having Serge. He cleans up a lot of the stuff. So the main thing was, for me, what I learned was that I have to be more, I guess, aggressive and stop them…I don’t really like challenging at the rim.”"

In his season exit interview, coach Billy Donovan discussed the future for Steven Adams.

"“For Victor and Steven, it was a season of firsts. I’m very optimistic with both those guys. One, because of their character…two, because of their work ethic…and three, how deeply they care about the team.”"

According to Donovan:

"“It was a season of firsts for Steven taking on a more prominent role…I think Steven and Victor will continue to get better, and I think their summers will be very very important. I think if you look at Steven throughout his career, every year he’s gotten better so I’m encouraged and very optimistic that he’ll continue to do that.”"

So, where does that leave the big man this summer? He needs to work on his defensive game to avoid having any more performances like the defensive nightmare against James Harden this postseason. He needs to work on his offensive game, finding his comfort spots when taking shots.

I would be upset if Adams was traded this summer. Obviously. But, I also know that not everyone agrees. We’ll soon see what the future holds.