Steven Adams – Memphis Grizzlies

In July of this offseason ahead of the 2021 NBA Draft, the New Orleans Pelicans traded away Eric Bledsoe, Steven Adams and draft picks to the Memphis Grizzlies for Jonas Valanciunas and draft picks. Now, with a new, young team, Steven Adams will look to prove himself as still being one of the better “bruise-like” centers in the league. 

After being traded to the Pelicans ahead of last season, New Orleans signed Adams to a questionable two-year, $35M extension that will begin during the 2021-22 season. He is owed the full amount of his deal through the 2022-23 season now, but after things did not work out in New Orleans, the big man from New Zealand will have to prove his worth during the 2021-22 season. 

Believe it or not, Steven Adams is only 28-years-old and was a dual-threat force scoring in the paint and rebounding on both ends of the court his last few years in OKC, but he struggled last year in New Orleans. Maybe his toe injury had something to do with this, but Adams only averaged 7.6 points and 8.9 rebounds after averaging 10.9 points and 9.3 rebounds the season before with the Thunder. His field goal percentage did increase from 59.2% to 61.4% though with the Pelicans. 

In Memphis, with plenty of young, dynamic scorers around him, Steven Adams will be involved in a lot of pick-and-roll sets, but he needs to be able to prove that he is still one of the better rebounding big men and paint finishers in the league. With the NBA phasing out big guys who cannot shoot from the perimeter, Adams finds himself a part of a “rare breed” at this point with his career in the balance. 

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If he can go out there and put up an 8+ point and 8+ rebound season, Steven Adams will be fine, but anything less than this could result in Memphis looking to others like Xavier Tillman or someone else for production at the center position. Adams needs a strong “bounce-back” season during the 2021-22 year to remain as a starting caliber center in this league.