NBA expert in no doubt about Steven Adams' impending deal

NBA expert Danny Leroux is in no doubt that Steven Adams will receive a four-year, US$100 million contract from the Thunder today. Photo / AP

NBA expert and sportswriter Danny Leroux is in no doubt that Steven Adams will receive the widely reported US$100 million (NZ$140m) four-year contract from the Oklahoma City Thunder today.

Speaking to the Radio Sport Breakfast, Leroux talked through Adams' current contract and how a new deal is inevitable for the young star.

"I would fully anticipate he will be a member of the Thunder again and that it will be something around four years, US$100m - whether he signs it today or whether he signs it in July," Leroux said.

Adams' current contract ends at the end of the 2016/17 season, at which point he becomes a restricted free agent.

This means all other teams around the NBA are able to make an offer for Adams, however, given his restricted status, the Oklahoma City Thunder can match the offer and keep their star.

Inevitably this will lead to more competition and potentially a higher contract, therefore Leroux believes the Thunder will want to lock him down nice and early.

"Both sides want some sort of security," Leroux said. "If they lost Adams, they would be dealing with other players and they wouldn't have a lot of money to spend."

But is he really worth the NZ$140m?

"There aren't many guys who do that well to expect the maximum," he said. "But it would be very hard for them to replace him.

"When you have a centre who is good at defense, that's something that travels very well.

"He's underrated in terms of mobility, he's not one of those centres who just stands under the basket and blocks shots.

"What I've been really impressed with this season, is that he's really grown offensively. You want to have the defense, but if you can score on top of that, you add a lot more value because an opponent can't really exploit that in a way that teams have with limited centres in the past few years."

The Thunder have until 5pm tonight (NZT) to confirm the deal.