The Rockets and Steven Adams have agreed to a contract extension, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports that the veteran center will receive a three-year, $39MM deal.
Adams’ extension is fully guaranteed, sources tell Charania, and does not feature a player or team option, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link). The big man from New Zealand earned $12.6MM this past season.
As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (Twitter link), Adams was extension-eligible until June 30, the last day of the current league year.
Adams, who turns 32 years old next month, missed about half of the 2022/23 season with a knee injury. That same injury, which eventually required surgery, kept him on the shelf for the entire ’23/24 campaign. After a 21-month absence, he returned to action in late October.
The Rockets brought Adams along slowly to open ’24/25, frequently giving him extra rest days and limiting his playing time. He wound up making 58 regular season appearances and averaging a career-low 13.7 minutes per game.
While his production looked fairly modest on the surface — he averaged 3.9 points and 5.6 rebounds — Adams quietly posted the best offensive rebounding percentage of his career. His +9.4 net rating during the regular season and +14.1 mark in the postseason were both team highs, making him a key reserve for Houston.
GM Rafael Stone said retaining Adams would be a high priority this offseason, and subsequent reporting confirmed as much. Instead of becoming an unrestricted free agent, he opted to remain with the Rockets.
While there has been no indication that Houston is interested in trading Adams, it’s worth noting that, depending on the structure of the deal, he may remain trade-eligible after signing his new extension (assuming his annual raises don’t exceed 5%). Had he re-signed with the team as a free agent, he would not have been trade-eligible until December 15.
$1 mil per mpg avg? Seems like an overpay
I’m sure there are a few teams that would happily pay that. As noted in the article, he was coming back after being out for close to two years, so was on a minutes restriction.
Spoken like a lady who didn’t watch any rockets game
Dude, says something you disagree with, so you question his masculinity.
You’ve got issues, bro
Im confused… Is that not a girl?
I know you are man, it’s very apparent.
Really? About to be multiple guys paid more than Adams without playing a single game in the nba and nothing is a given. I’m willing to bet he’s team mates love him, I’d feel safe and appreciate he’s screen setting, board crashing etc. Will take said young top picks about three games to wish they had a Steven Adams as their vet. The part where your bodyguard can lift a 250lb man like a baby with one hand is also very very appealing to the smaller guys I’m sure.
Get used to it…
It’ll be 2 mil per mpg avg soon enough… Otherwise the owners wont see profit…
Wow. Not expecting a 3 year deal considering he will be 32 soon and having knee problems. From what is available out there that is the going rate for him. Must mean they have deals to trim payroll in other places being they are already over $200 million mark for next year. So probably Green or Brooks will get traded for offense next year and to free up money to resign Smith and Eason to extensions.
From what I read
Spurs and Rockets are out for Durant deal
IF KD for Gobert, DD and Dillingham
Suns would be a better team than Lakers
Edwards has more power to Wolves than Udoka to Rockets
Both want Durant
Good for him!
I was secretly hoping that the Warriors would sign Adams next season lol. Glad he got the bag and stays healthy!
They hate centers 😂
I know! It’s sort of amazing since they had Bogut at the start of their run and he was pretty darn good against teams that had size like Memphis, etc.
It is not that amazing. They had to trade Bogut to sign KD. They also had renounce the rights to Barnes and Ezeli to KD. They tried drafting Ezeli’s replacement at Vandy, but he didn’t work out. Cousins was always injured…Remember the coach that died. Look him up. Kerr doesn’t hate big men.
Feels like this guy has been around forever and yet he’s only 31. Definitely makes me feel old.
I consider myself 100 percent straight, but that SA is one damn good-looking dude.
I knew it was a distant longshot, but I was hoping we’d get him back here in Memphis…
His best days are behind him. I expect him to be traded in a year or two.
He will get injured very soon and out for the yr
As will Embiid, do the math.
This was a no-brainer for the Rockets. They had made him top priority to resign and they got it done quickly. Now the question becomes what is next? I expect them to redo Vanvleet’s deal to be more team-friendly. They do not need to trade half the roster for Durant but I do believe they are going to make a significant addition.