On top of Steven Adams

[oasis05]

I thought it was a good time to take a look at steven adams.

Adams is known for dominating drummond at the adidas camp, must of been 2011 if I remember. Adams was dropping 30 point games. With Drummond demonstrating nba ability it shows that Adams game is likely going to translate to the nba having shown dominance against his peers.

Comparing Alex Len's freshman season to Adams in the advanced stats, and Adams comes out tied or ahead in every category. The EFG% was pretty much the same, but the offensive rebounding, turnover percentage, and foul rate were clearly in Adams favor. Adams had a per of 23 to Len's 17. Both Len and Adams were strong on the defensive boards, and in the blocks.

Adams catches a lot of flack for looking like the monsters in teenage mutant ninja turtles 2. Very young at 19 and unpolished in the post, he looks lost out there. But due to his size and physicality he gets a lot of shots off around the basket and at the rim by just mauling people in the post and on the boards. His physical advantage in very real, and is likely to continue at the nba level. dude is a hoss.

Dieng in likely to go around 15-18, and I'd put adams ahead of dieng due to Adams demonstrating good ability at a much younger making him more likely to translate to the nba.

So, in my mind Adams is a lottery pick right now. Not sure how far up he'll move. most drafts have had Len between 7-11, and i don't think Adams is all that far behind, if at all considering he's a freshman.

Espn likes him for his Length, Athleticism, nba frame, strong rebounding, physicality, and strong motor.

Cavs have demonstrated with Thompson that they are not afraid to take a raw freshman big man with out an offensive game. The more I think about it, it makes a lot of sense given how the cavs operate that Adams would be close to the top of our board. He has all the qualities of drummond and also the ones that the absence of caused drummond to drop.

 

[Douglar]

Re: Of Steven Adams

Chad Ford has him going at #19 to Cleveland.

Rumors are running rampant that Adams was approached by an interested team with a late-lottery to mid-first-round pick that lured him into declaring for the draft. If his workouts are limited, that will be our biggest clue that someone shut him down. While Adams clearly isn't ready for the NBA, he does possess the physical tools that could make him a terrific pick if a team is willing to wait on him. I could see a team like the Thunder, who can afford to be patient, making a move for him in the lottery.

 

[ajz20]

Re: Of Steven Adams

I dont see him lasting until 19. My guess is 10-16 as of today. Willl need to trade up, but it can be done if he gets in the 12-14 range. Dont expect any offense the first year though. Adams is a three year project on the offensive end. He will give you virtually no offense year one, possibly average stats year 2.But as the OP pointed out long term, he could really pay off! I dont mind taking a project with our second pick, as long as the guy we take in the top 5 can play from day 1!

 

[theshad]

Re: Of Steven Adams

I thought this kid had massive potential when I saw videos of him in high school, especially a video I saw of him facing Noel in a game that seemed to me like Adams left with the victory. Hadn't actually watched him in college to see if it translated though I had heard he was a pretty big disappointment.

 

[pl4tinum]

Re: Of Steven Adams

Adams' offense reminds me of early, early Anderson Varejao.

 

[Surge]

Re: Of Steven Adams

Reminds me of taller Paul Pierce.


*** He obviously forgot to include the smiley. -- Douglar

 

[camakazee]

Re: Of Steven Adams

I watched Adams about 12-15 times this season and it was a very frustrating experience. He has great size, athleticism, and all of the tools required, but is still very, very raw. There were games where he looked like had it all figured out, dominating the low post on both ends, and then there were games where he looked like he wanted nothing to do with the offensive post (a loss versus a physical Cincinnati team in which he attempted 0 field goals in 24 minutes stands out).

He does have fantastic defensive instincts, blocking and challenging many of the shots that opponents bring down to the low block. However, he's very much a project and I expect to him get pushed around quite a bit his first couple years in the league. Don't expect to see much of an offensive game any time soon from Adams.

 

[MRMsix6]

Re: Of Steven Adams

I have no doubt he has the size, athleticism and talent to be a good pro. It's what's between his ears that worries me. In the limited amount of interviews out there he seems like a bit of a space cadet. Hopefully he's just an awkward young kid with poor social skills.

He should still be a strong consideration for our 2nd 1st round pick.

 

[adam81king]

Re: Of Steven Adams

I've mentioned several times that I think Steven Adams has what it takes to be the best center in the NBA. At worst, I think he's Omer Asik--something we could definitely use. The rumors of him coming out because of interest from a mid-round team makes me think it's OKC that wants him at #12. While I will get reamed for this, I'd take Adams at #3 and not think twice about it. He's huge, strong, athletic and is VERY coachable. I'd consider trading back with Minnesota (#3 for #9 and #26) to pick up some other assets, but wouldn't count on that happening. Like Grant has shown, you take the player you want. It's only a "reach" if the player doesn't turn out to be any good.

 

[Cashius X]

Re: Of Steven Adams

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmdpZD61dUw

Enjoy.
What do you guys think?
To me, he actually looks like a stronger Tyler Zeller the way he runs the floor.

 

[TyGuy]

Re: Of Steven Adams

He has a some major issues in my opinion. Number one is he has very poor hands. This is something that you just can't teach and is a bane of many big men. He has no kind of jump shot whatsoever, he doesn't have a hook shot, he finishes poorly around the rim and is incredibly mechanical in the post. To put it mildly he is very raw. He is very athletic, has a strong build and has great anticipation on the shot block. His hands being so weak and his offensive short comings make me want to steer clear of him.

 

[MD13]

Re: Of Steven Adams

I think Steven Adams is exactly the type of guy the Cavs should be looking at rolling the dice on given our boatload of picks in this draft. I'd much rather swing for the fences with guys like him than a guy with a much lower ceiling in Dieng. He definitely passes the eye test athletically, and if we took a lot of time to develop him I'd love to see how his game would look in a few years.

 

[Douglar]

Re: Of Steven Adams

They also posted their video scouting report yesterday

http://www.draftexpress.com#ixzz2ScAqeVOZ
http://www.draftexpress.com

Adams eventually elected to honor his commitment to Pitt after moving to the US mid-season to attend Notre Dame Prep, a ”school” with a checkered past which served as a holding spot to keep him in line to get eligible for college.

Adams had an up and down freshman season, looking fairly raw as was expected for those familiar with his background as a late-bloomer with limited basketball experience, but still dropping enough glimpses of potential to keep scouts interested in his long-term development. When the season ended, Adams told reporters he will be returning for his sophomore season, even sounding slightly annoyed to being asked about it: ““I don't know why you guys keep asking that question, man. I'm coming back.”

Once Adams returned to New Zealand to visit his family for a week, things changed, as he returned to Pittsburgh and shortly after announced his intentions to enter the draft, citing his desire to help his family.

“It's time for me to help my family. There's certain family members who I feel need a bit more help than the others. I don't like seeing them struggle. It's quite sad to see your family struggle, you know what I'm saying. I don't want to see that anymore."

Adams' main virtues as a NBA prospect continue to revolve heavily around his physical profile, as he has rare size, a strong frame, and excellent athleticism. He runs the floor well, is extremely mobile, and has very good quickness for a player his height, also being capable of playing above the rim when called upon.

Offensively, Adams was a very limited player at Pitt, averaging 7 points in 23 minutes, or 12.3 points per-40 minutes, which is the fourth lowest rate of any of the 75 college players in our top-100 prospects. While he was efficient from the field in his limited attempts (57%), he struggled badly from the free throw line, making just 44% of his attempts, a pretty good indication of where his skill-level is at in this stage of his development.

Not a focal point of Pitt's offense, being responsible for just 11% of his team's overall possessions, Adams' biggest source of touches came from the offensive glass, where he was extremely effective. His 5.2 offensive rebounds per-40 minutes ranks 3rd best among collegiate top-100 prospects, as his combination of size, quickness, mobility and intensity were extremely effective in making his presence felt on the offensive glass.

He also saw some looks working off the ball, running the floor in transition, and even occasionally with his back to the basket, but struggled to make the most of such opportunities on a consistent basis.

Adams has very crude footwork in the post and little in the ways of countermoves if the defender is able to cut off his initial action. He often decides what he wants to do with the ball seemingly before he even catches it, not reacting to how his defender is playing him and struggling to improvise on the fly if his initial plan goes awry. He's very mechanical with his movements and not overly instinctive with his approach to the game, which leaves some concerns about how much he can improve on this end of the floor in time.

Even more concerning though is how poor of a finisher he appeared to be around the basket this year. Adams seems to have smaller hands than average for a player his size and had a difficult time catching the ball cleanly all season long resulting in quite a few turnovers. He bobbles the ball on the catch regularly, as he seems to need to have it thrown to him perfectly so he can get two hands around it, at times using his chest to assist him. Because of his lack of control upon catching it, he tends to either hesitate going up strong for the finish, or just throws the ball up on the rim, seemingly just hoping for the best. The fact that he doesn't get great extension on his moves around the rim makes him fairly predictable and resulted in him getting his shot blocked a fair amount relative to his small number of touches.

Additionally, Adams has a bit of a subdued, non-chalant demeanor on the floor, rarely looking angry or in much of a hurry, which results in some relatively soft finishes. While he's very explosive, rarely did you see him getting angry and just powering up through a defender and jamming it home, which further hampered his effectiveness on this end of the floor.

Stepping away from the basket, Adams is not much of a threat, as you would probably guess by his mediocre free throw shooting percentages (44%). He shoots the ball with poor mechanics, locking his elbow, not setting his feet, and showing no follow through on his release. Combine that with his average touch and it seems he has a long ways to go to become a legitimate threat outside of the immediate vicinity of the basket.

<CENTER>US Presswire</CENTER>

<TBODY>
</TBODY>

Where Adams looks much closer to being able to contribute to a NBA team is on the defensive end. His quickness and overall mobility is extremely impressive for a player his size, and allows him to make a significant impact on this side of the floor, particularly on the pick and roll. Adams can step out on screens and recover very effectively, even being able to switch out on guards at times and not look entirely uncomfortable. He'll get beat off the dribble at times, but is athletic enough to recover and still make a play at the rim, showing very good instincts as a shot-blocker.

Adams seems to have good potential as a rim-protector, already rejecting 3.7 blocks per-40 as a freshman, which ranks fifth among collegiate top-100 prospects.

In the post, Adams does a solid job, looking patient and not fouling too often, playing under control and showing a much better feel than he does on the offensive end.

With that said, Adams' technique and fundamentals still have a long ways to go, as he tends to give up deep post-position too frequently to stronger opponents, closes out wildly contesting shots on the perimeter, gets lost off the ball, and will make some ill-advised plays stemming from his lack of experience and coaching.

Adams also isn't as good of a defensive rebounder as you might hope, ranking second to last in that category among top-100 collegiate centers. He rarely boxes out opponents, mistimes his jumps, and has a difficult time coming away with loose balls in traffic because of his small hands, something he'll need to improve on considering the role he'll be expected to play in the NBA.

All in all, Adams is clearly a long-term project who a team will need to invest a few years of solid coaching in order to be able to expect to reap benefits from down the road. He may never develop into anything more than an average player offensively, but has excellent potential defensively thanks to his terrific physical tools, which could convince a NBA team to invest a pick on him somewhere late in the first round. Teams will first want to get a better feel for his mental approach and all-around feel for the game in private workouts, interviews and background checks.

 

[Cavatt]

Re: Of Steven Adams

I'd like to get him if we don't get Len. It seems more likely they will try to get Porter with Len's injury dropping him a bit. If Len is still there at the 2nd pick or the Cavs move up, great. If not I'd take Adams. His body is so big and wide, and he can get off his feet quickly. He will be a defensive presence.

 

[Pioneer10]

Re: Of Steven Adams

Makes me want Len more after reading that profile. Guys can get bulkier but you're not going to be able to grow bigger hands and you have to put in a lot of work to improve finishing (see Tristan) even before you start working on things like post moves. I like his motor for a big and his size/athleticism but put it all together he looks more like a Birdman type of center rather then a guy who can make more of an impact like a Gasol