re: Any possible way we can make a move for Steven Adams?

I hope Adams works out. But I think the perception of him as a player has gotten a little out of hand. Here’s an article from The Ringer from after the 2019 playoffs:

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It hasn’t mattered what strategy Oklahoma City head coach Billy Donovan has tried with Steven Adams, a burly 7-footer more comfortable in the paint. If he drops his center back on screens, Lillard and McCollum can dribble into open pull-up 3s. If he extends Adams up the court, the two can string him out and get around him.
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The Blazers can put Adams in the pick-and-roll and get an open shot anytime they want. He’s in the 6th percentile of defenders on that play in the playoffs, giving up 1.19 points per possession. He has been a bigger defensive liability in this series than his former backup Enes Kanter, and he doesn’t have the offensive ability to make up for the points he gives up. Adams can’t space the floor, create his own shot, or facilitate for others. He has not been a difference-maker in three postseasons without Durant. He’s a platoon center getting paid ($25 million a season) like a star.

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And he didn’t really do any better in the 2020 playoffs. Thunder fans will tell you he plays physical, gets banged up, plays through it, but doesn’t look the same. That we will only get a stretch of Adams at his best, probably at the beginning of the season. There’s a reason why there wasn’t really a market for his services.

We gave up a first, 2 seconds, George Hill, and because we had to guarantee Miller to take back Adams’ salary, we also gave up the MLE, which is why we only signed minimum guys. So pick your favorite FA who signed for less than the MLE (mine was Baynes), and we also gave up that player. We then extended his contract to 3 years without seeing how he fits. I loved the Favors acquisition at the time. Imagine if we had extended him sight unseen?

It seems like Griffin didn’t want the team to get worse in the short term and overpaid to get a guy he has coveted for a while. It’s not the end of the world. We didn’t lose any greatly important assets. But this feels like a misstep, and small markets have less room for error.

I know that this franchise’s history of trading for centers who turn out to be on the wrong side of their career (Emeka Okafor, Asik, Cousins, Favors, maybe others that I’m forgetting) and losing two generational talents in succession are probably leading me to think this move is worse than it actually is. I hope Adams works out and that Aaron Nelson and his staff can keep him healthy. (And maybe Griffin wanted another big expendable contract so that he could trade for a star without giving up more important players. Although the trade kicker makes that trickier).

But you have to at least acknowledge that this trade and extension could work out poorly and cost yet another asset to fix.

Here lies the problem. Everyone is talking about Adams in the playoffs. Just like every other 7' center not named Jokic or Embiid, Adam's game is not tailored to playoff basketball, but he will GET you to playoff basketball.

Take a look back at last season, Favors missed ALOT of games. Even with the Zion injury, if we would have had Favors available, I'm pretty damn confident we would have been the 8th seed going into the bubble.

Adams stays pretty damn healthy, so just having his availability will be a huge add to this team.

It’s probably going to be 2-3 years before we can expect to get out of the first round anyway. Which aligns directly with Adams’ and Bledsoe’s contracts.

We have to become a good regular season team before we have to worry about becoming a good playoff team.

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It’s probably going to be 2-3 years before we can expect to get out of the first round anyway.

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Again, maybe I’m impatient, overly optimistic, or my expectations are too high, but if BI continues to improve and Zion can remain healthy, I feel like this team should be competitive in the first round sooner than 2-3 years.

I understand wanting to take team building one year at a time. But GMs have to take the long view, especially when you are giving up assets for a guy and extending his contract to 3 years.

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While Jaxon is on his rookie deal Adams + Jaxon is acceptable salary for the center position. I don't know if he'll develop quickly enough to keep the Pels from trading him, but I think he's got "better Tyson Chandler" as his ceiling. If Jaxon develops quickly enough he's the answer to the problem in the medium and long term.

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I hope Jaxson is the long term answer. If he fills out and can extend his range, he could be a really good fit.

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It’s probably going to be 2-3 years before we can expect to get out of the first round anyway. Which aligns directly with Adams’ and Bledsoe’s contracts.

We have to become a good regular season team before we have to worry about becoming a good playoff team.

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It's extremely important this team gets some playoff experience before we lose Adams and Bledose, and those 2 guys have plenty of playoff experience and will help us hopefully not only get there, but help ease the transition for the young guys from regular season to post season.

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Again, maybe I’m impatient, overly optimistic, or my expectations are too high

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You're all 3. BI has been in the league 4 years, and has never made the playoffs. Zion is going into his second year. They are both still growing.

Adams at 17.5 million is a very good salary for what he brings to the table. Yes he will be unplayable in the playoffs depending on matchups, you cannot expect to throw him out there on a 6'6 PJ Tucker and think he won't do anything but get dominated. Gobert would be in the same exact position.

It's when you draw Utah or Denver or LAL in the 1st round is when Adams will be effective. Against AD he will just simply overpower him. He can bang with Gobert around the rim. He can effectively cover Jokic who's the same size/athleticism.

His salary will not be a hindrance on our play in the playoffs, as we still have the roster to go small in the playoffs with Zion or Melli at the 5.

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You don’t understand why the thunder took a center off the court versus a team with no center on their roster

I love how you keep painting everyone else to be nonsensical

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In fairness to that poster, he was replying to the guy that said Adams was a top 5 center and that was the context of his reply.

Top 5 centers don't get played off the court because the opponent doesn't play a center. Top 5 centers would feast in that situation and make the opponent pay for having no center.

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I’m laughing at either application

Those picks aren’t worth shite. If you broke down the Pelicans assets into 3 tiers, they would be tier 3 assets.

You do that all day for a center, in his prime, that you think can start for you for 3 seasons, at a non-debilitating cap number.

What type of players do y’all think are getting traded for lottery protected 1st rd picks & second rounders? Lol

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It's pretty funny seeing LE make fun of others talking about trade value when LE is the dude who said if Barton/Harris were offered for Jrue we should take it because that's about as good as we'd get in an offer.

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LE is the dude who said if Barton/Harris were offered for Jrue we should take it because that's about as good as we'd get in an offer.

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It’s fun to make stuff up