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As the Houston Rockets lost Game 7 to the Golden State Warriors with their playoff hopes now in the dust, the goal in the offseason will be to improve on what was a relatively successful season. While the Rockets are expected to go after a superstar, there are some other relatively smaller moves that the team needs to look at, especially with one player who stood out in the series against Golden State.
That player is veteran big man Steven Adams, who played alongside star Alperen Sengun and was effective in causing problems for the Warriors in the seven-game series. Jake Fischer writes in “The Stein Line” that one “source of summer intrigue” relies on what Houston will do with Adams as he becomes an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
“The Rockets aggressively pursued Adams at the 2024 trade deadline when he wasn't even healthy enough to play, envisioning the burly New Zealander as both a backup to and a sidekick alongside Sengun,” Fischer wrote. “Yet it seems unlikely that Houston imagined playing them together as frequent starters in the same manner that the Thunder projected Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein as an eventual starting tandem.”
“Among the many sources of summer intrigue in Houston, then, will be seeing how much the Rockets value Adams as the 31-year-old heads to unrestricted free agency … and after the whole league just watched him bully the Warriors,” Fischer continued.
Steven Adams was productive for Rockets in playoffs against Warriors
With the Rockets finishing at the second seed this season in the Western Conference, the team's No. 1 priority will be to build a championship-caliber team that's filled with talent and depth. Adams could be an impact player for Houston like he was in the playoffs, as spotted by an incredibly efficient duo alongside Sengun, which Fischer mentioned.
“Figuring out the optimal shape of a Rockets lineup starring Şengün is another new challenge,” Fischer wrote. “He and veteran big man Steven Adams shared the floor for all of 162 minutes in the regular season before emerging as an absolutely terrific combo against the small-balling Warriors.”
“The Sengun/Adams frontcourt pairing logged 93 minutes together over seven games, resulting in a staggering net rating of +20.6,” Fischer continued. “A lot of the credit deservedly goes to Adams, who was nothing short of a menace around the rim and on the glass on both sides of the floor.”
At any rate, it remains to be seen if Adams ends back with the Rockets as this past season, he averaged 3.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game while shooting 54,5 percent from the field in 58 games. Against Golden State, he averaged 5.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 60 percent from the field in the seven-game series.
