Boston Celtics: How Available is Steven Adams

Al Horford’s wandering eyes could leave a significant hole in the middle for the 2019-2020 Boston Celtics and beyond.

When Al Horford opted out of his $30M player option with the Boston Celtics for 2019-2020, it was under the belief he’d be returning to the club on a longer-term deal at a lower price annually.

Now, there are whispers that Horford as a deal lined up that will reportedly pay him up to $112M through four years, taking him into the twilight of his career as a very wealthy man. The Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers are the apparent front runners.

If money is what draws Horford from Boston, there’s not much anyone can do. While he was an essential piece in the Celtics two Eastern Conference Final appearances, Horford turns 34 next year. Father time is undefeated, and paying a player near $30M three years from now at the age of 37 is too costly for a team that isn’t immediate contenders.

If and when Horford does part ways with Boston, that leaves a significant hole to fill at the center position for a franchise looking to re-tool over a full-blown rebuild. The Celtics have recently been linked to Nikola Vucevic who will be an unrestricted free agent come June 30th. With up to $34M in cap room though, Boston has options.

Vucevic is a very nice player, and one of the only stretch bigs available on the market that can make significant contributions. There are some questions about his productivity moving forward. Turning 29 next year, Vucevic is in his prime now, but how good will he be at the end of a possible deal?

Putting up career highs in points, blocks, assists, and rebounds, one has to wonder if that had anything to do with the fact that he was hitting free agency this summer.

Vucevic’s defense was also exposed in the NBA Playoffs against the Toronto Raptors. In a Brad Stevens system that demands a lot out of his centers on the defensive end, that may not be the best fit.

I bode this question, how available is Oklahoma City Thunder center, Steven Adams? OKC owes $146M in salary to a team that was bested in five games to an undermanned Trailblazers squad. Changes need to be made, and if you’re not moving Paul George or Russell Westbrook, Steven Adams seems like one of the prime candidates.

Adams is not as offensively inclined as Vucevic, but he does check every other box. A bruiser that would make an excellent Aron Baynes impression, but a little more mobile, and with more touch in the paint.

While he’s never averaged double-digit rebounds in his six NBA seasons, Adams is one of the best rebounders in the league. Adams was third in the league in box outs (the real tell of elite rebounding) and should be attributed an award for helping Russell Westbrook average a triple-double for three straight years.

Another skill that Adams excels is screen setting, something that allowed Horford to unlock Boston’s offense to another level. Adams was in the top 20 in screen assists per game in 2019 and would allow Boston to keep running their dribble handoff reliant sets.

His high character and generally fun personality would fit right in with the trend of adding good guys to improve the culture of the team as the Celtics did via the NBA Draft.

In a hypothetical trade to acquire Adams, Boston wouldn’t have to give up much. Assuming OKC intended on using him as a salary dump, they would not want to take on any significant salaries in return, if any at all.

The Celtics have enough cap room to re-sign restricted free agent, Terry Rozier and absorb Adams contract into their cap without having to make any additional moves outside of renouncing the rest of their free agents.

With a team that relies on a wing heavy rotation, a player with the skill, girth, and character of Steven Adams may be the perfect fit going forward.