Thunderous Intentions
Fansided

Five takeaways from the Thunder’s easy win against Indiana

By Tony Heim

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - OCTOBER 25: Head Coach Billy Donovan and Russell Westbrook #0 of the OKC Thunder talk during a time out during a game against the Indiana Pacers at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on October 25, 2017 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - OCTOBER 25: Head Coach Billy Donovan and Russell Westbrook #0 of the OKC Thunder talk during a time out during a game against the Indiana Pacers at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on October 25, 2017 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
6 of 6
Next
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – OCTOBER 25: Steven Adams #12 of the OKC Thunder shoots the ball against the Indiana Pacers on October 25, 2017 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – OCTOBER 25: Steven Adams #12 of the OKC Thunder shoots the ball against the Indiana Pacers on October 25, 2017 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Steven Adams is a legitimate threat for end-of-season awards

I’ve been holding off on making Adams’ takeaways simply because he’s been the story of the early-Thunder season. I wanted something definitive to say, not just that the Big Kiwi has gotten a whole lot better. Through four games I’m finally ready to say it:

More from Thunderous Intentions

Steven Adams is a serious contender for multiple awards this season.

Adams isn’t going to win Defensive Player of the Year, but he’s going to get votes. His consolation prize will likely be a Second Team All-Defense nod. Especially if the Thunder end the year with a top-three defense and Andre Roberson’s minutes continue to decrease.

Through four games he’s averaging 1.8 blocks and 2 steals a game while only fouling 1.5 times a game. The 24-year old is the only player in the NBA to average 2 steals and 1.5 blocks to start the season – the only other player to average 2 and 1 so far is Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. The two steals a game likely won’t last, but it goes to show the versatility of the Thunder’s center.

I end with a couple tweets from two powerhouse Thunder blogs.

The “OK3” is wildly disrespectful to Adams – the thing is we couldn’t have known that until now. The Big Kiwi is a legitimate contender for Third Team All-NBA (Karl-Anthony Towns will probably stop him sadly) because of his defense and offensive efficency. If he’s going to keep averaging 14 points a game on 67% shooting the league has to take notice of Adams as a concrete top-five center in the league.

He’s played like it so far, and I expect it to continue for the rest of the season.

Home/Thunder News