Opinion: Too much at stake for Thundering rookie

UNFINISHED: Rotorua's Steven Adams is still a work in progress on the NBA scene. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

MUCH has already been made of the unavailability of Oklahoma City Thunder big man Steven Adams for the Tall Blacks at the upcoming World Cup in Spain.

In truth, it should not have been.

Those believing the 2.13m Rotorua product would have learned more against the likes of the Dominican Republic, US, Ukraine, Finland and Turkey than he would in the NBA Summer League fail to understand just how much is at stake for Adams and the Thunder, and how much room there is for his game to grow.

While his first year in the league was an unmitigated success, Adams is far from the finished product.

His offensive game can be best described as crude. It consists of running the floor, setting screens for superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, crashing the offensive glass for put-back dunks and aggravating opposition big men.

He neared 70 per cent shooting from the field in the playoffs and at times showed nice-touch finishing with both hands around the basket, but he struggles from the free-throw line and outside the paint and has yet to show any low-post moves with his back to the basket.

Next season looms as a pivotal one for the youthful Thunder, who have failed to live up to expectations since beating the ageing San Antonio Spurs in six games during the 2012 Western Conference Finals.

That series was supposed to be the passing of the torch out west, but the subsequent trade of shooting guard James Harden has somewhat derailed that development.

Thunder general manager Sam Presti is widely seen as the loser of that trade, with the only major bright spot being gaining the draft pick that was to eventually become Adams.

Presti is invested in the former Rotorua schoolboy, whom he sees as an important piece to help evolve a two-dimensional offence relying almost solely on the athleticism of Durant and Westbrook.

Considering he is likely to supplant Kendrick Perkins as the team's starting centre - the former Boston Celtic is on the books for $10,007,200 next season compared to Adams' $2,690,310 - Adams would be foolish to forego the opportunity of a full NBA off-season to hoop it up with the likes of Thomas Abercrombie in Spain.

His defence would be useful to the Tall Blacks, but international basketball is hardly made for him.

The shorter three-point line rewards skilled big men with range in the European mould and it is likely teams would find mismatches elsewhere on the floor that would render Adams largely inconsequential.

The same cannot be said about his future in the NBA.