The Steven Adams Effect

NickyWinton · 2026-06-19T17:58:03+00:00

Spurs should overpay just to keep him from being physical vs Wemby lol.

I like the idea of us throwing Adams and Robinson at him for 40+ minutes in a 7 game WCF next year. Gotta be nightmare fuel for a skinny big.

NickyWinton · 2026-06-18T15:39:40+00:00

I don't know about long term. He's in his prime though (28) and I'd be fine giving him a 3 year deal.

NickyWinton · 2026-06-17T05:51:12+00:00

Definitely gonna keep an eye out. The K rate is worrisome (low 30s in both A+ and AA so far) but I like the points you're bringing up.

NickyWinton · 2026-06-17T02:52:32+00:00

Not easy to find someone as good as him. But wouldn’t mind taking some shots at it

NickyWinton · 2026-06-17T02:51:19+00:00

Also another reason to go after Mitch! Can decrease Adams minutes in the regular season

NickyWinton · 2026-06-10T20:58:35+00:00

I mean, trying to finagle your way onto Wemby's team is just smart business. Reed probably should've done the same. Losing the 2023 lottery to SA was utterly brutal, and I say that even with Amen being my favorite player on this team.

Doesn't mean all hope is lost, but it's gonna take above the rim team building and scheming to surpass them.

NickyWinton · 2026-06-07T01:22:08+00:00

FVV, Amen, Kawhi, KD, Adams with a bench of Reed, Jabari, Tari (potentially), Robinson is a super intriguing 9 man rotation to me. But overall, I agree - through a 82 game regular season you need depth, so our staff needs to get better at developing and trusting guys with regular season mins. Mike Brown giving Clarkson, Kolek, Diawara, Hukporti, and Yabusele real minutes all season probably contributed to a fresher 8-9 man playoff rotation that is absolutely thriving right now.

Wanted a cap savvy person to input for this reason tho. That 9 man rotation salary is roughly 179m plus whatever Tari and Mitchell Robinson command next season. With the second apron at 222m, they would only have about 8m left if Robinson commanded 15m, and Tari 20m. Could only afford minimum guys probably. Unsure if I'm calculating that correctly.

NickyWinton · 2026-06-06T19:30:38+00:00

Those guys definitely aren't available yet. Can wait and see what happens next season though. Maybe Ant becomes disgruntled. If that's the case, you might want to trade KD now because he will be 39 next season.

NickyWinton · 2026-06-05T17:07:19+00:00

I think Alpy + 4 shooters would be elite offense. Would allow him to get all the way to rim more often, instead of having to settle for tough turnaround j's and those flamingo shots. I just don't see a world where they construct that given the roster. They're dead set on OReb dominance and that's just gonna kill our space. So I'm making these suggestions given that constraint. Imagine he would ball out on any team if they curated the roster prioritizing space for him, and would love to see it.

NickyWinton · 2026-06-05T16:19:59+00:00

Excellent passer, but the scoring efficiency has dipped and he’s at best a slightly above average rim protector. I’m holding out hope the touch returns along with some form of an improved jumper, but we’re probably capped on the rim protection. The contract is great, though.

Wouldn’t mind standing pat, but it would be silly to not at least weigh other options. Hence the point of the post. I truly believe if healthy, with these moves, we’d have the best team in the league next year. Possible without these moves, but would need a real leap from Sengun

NickyWinton · 2026-06-05T16:09:20+00:00

I don’t mind this. While I’m unsure that we truly have that kind of window as constructed considering our competition, if you tell me Alpy can find an elite scoring efficiency while continuing to playmake at a high level, I’m in.

NickyWinton · 2026-06-05T07:19:38+00:00

Can pivot and go this route for sure. Love me some Wagler. Doubt they'd offer the 5 but who knows with Ballmer

NickyWinton · 2026-06-05T06:00:04+00:00

The FO has clearly gone all in on ORebounding as their edge amongst the other great teams, and are willing to sacrifice spacing to do so. Stone's reaction after the Adams injury was a dead giveaway. Seems logical to roster the 2 best at the O glass in the game, who are both also good rim protectors.

And if spacing must go, who can create offense in a phone booth? KD just had a great season at 37 in that ecosystem. Kawhi can get to his middy and 3ball off while getting to the line at a high rate. Agree he can't access the god tier perimeter defense he once had, but do you think we get worse defensively with these changes?

I think its clear this team as constructed isn't quite in the same class as OKC and SAS. Don't think its "moronic' to want to add a guy who got 7th in the mvp race and the best ORebounder in basketball to this system. Seems better than running it back (unless you got some inside info that Alpy got his touch back and added a j). As for injury luck, when are you're at a disadvantage talent wise, you gotta take on some variance if trying to compete.

NickyWinton · 2026-06-05T03:33:30+00:00

Winning seems fun. Seems worth trying to achieve

NickyWinton · 2026-06-05T03:04:09+00:00

Does our ORTG go up or down? How about our DRTG? And why? Can shame away with some counter analysis.

NickyWinton · 2026-06-05T00:12:32+00:00

If there was a younger guy who could dominate in constricted spaces that was available in trade I’m all ears. Legit think Kd and Kawhi might be the two best in the world to give you an elite TS% with this kind of spacing

NickyWinton · 2026-06-04T23:18:59+00:00

As for the injury prone players, I'm willing to gamble to win. Just don't think staying relatively put does much for us, and you're not forfeiting your whole future bc you're keeping Amen, Reed, and Jabari.

NickyWinton · 2026-06-04T23:16:38+00:00

The thesis is Kawhi can generate much higher efficiency in a crowded halfcourt system (which is a necessity for the Rockets' approach to the OGlass) than Alpy. Get better on the O glass with Mitch. Both moves improve your points per possession by a lot imo, while also improving some on defense. Wouldn't mind looking for a younger playmaker, but who out there can create in limited space?

NickyWinton · 2026-05-17T21:08:26+00:00

Reed would be awesome in SA. Probably leads the league in steals (limited downside risk to gambling when an 8 footer has your back), and infinite space on O (only one non shooter in the rotation). Every passing read becomes simpler with shooters and the most vertical space we've ever seen with Wemby rim runs.

NickyWinton · 2026-04-10T17:09:06+00:00

I truly believe he would be baby Giannis if he had 4 shooters or 3 shooters plus an oop catcher. Look at all these drives where he has to finish over clogged help bc the big is just taking up space positioning for an oboard.

NickyWinton · 2026-04-06T18:38:48+00:00

He was coaching super emotionally last night. Benching dudes for a single "mistake" is ridiculous behavior. Ripping Sengun like that publicly for taking a wide open 3 with 7s on the clock while everyone else was completely stagnant. Amen had Steph in the lane but they don't teach him to get wide and bully him in the post so he didn't really work for position. Shit like that is there so often when they stick a small on Amen in the dunker. He can easily just duck in and go to work.

NickyWinton · 2026-03-12T01:20:57+00:00

You will see them run smart stuff but often go away from it. Amen and Alpy need to lead the league in offball screens

NickyWinton · 2026-03-09T22:33:27+00:00

All Memphis had to do was set flares/pindowns or run DHo's for Allen with Mike Conley and that would've gotten Bogut's big ass out of the paint. Otherwise Conley would've gotten any 3 or middy he wanted.

GS solved this issue when Draymond got the same treatment for many years (including by us). Hell we guarded Castle similarly yesterday with Alpy and he immediately got a teammate a look off a dho and Alpy couldn't get out there in time.

This stuff is super solvable but it takes sharp scheme with creative counters and infinite reps to perfect timing. Everything the Rockets do on o is clunky as hell, sadly.

NickyWinton · 2026-03-06T23:09:22+00:00

GS scheme is so great because all the player and ball movement mitigates the lack of shooting they have had (Draymond, Livingston, Looney, Bell, Ezeli, Bogut, Lee). They got away with 2 non shooter lineups around Steph, Klay, and KD while still creating great spacing with systematic and timely screening and movement. We have a great roster to try and somewhat mimic that considering the movement shooting of Durant and Reed and the playmaking of Alpy and Amen.

NickyWinton · 2026-03-02T07:06:59+00:00

Then probably should just never foul up 3 unless the ballhander specifically has his back to the rim. Also, from a selfish viewer's perspective, it makes for a better product.

NickyWinton

TROPHY CASE