“The Rockets are operating under the assumption (Steven) Adams wants to return, and will continue to speak with his representation about a possible extension,” The Athletic’s Kelly Iko reports.
In early May, Rockets general manager Rafael Stone said “every indication” he has is that veteran center Steven Adams wants to return to Houston.
Now 31 years old, Adams just finished out the final season of his previous contract, though the Rockets have Bird rights to help sign him to a new deal.
Over a month later, and with the June 30 opening of the NBA’s free agency negotiations about three weeks away, the Rockets reportedly remain optimistic that Adams’ position hasn’t changed.
Per Kelly Iko of The Athletic:
The Rockets are operating under the assumption Adams wants to return — and will continue to speak with his representation about a possible extension, team sources said.
It’s difficult to project what Adams’ market value might be. On the one hand, his traditional statistics in the regular season were rather pedestrian. In an average of 13.7 minutes over 58 games, Adams averaged 3.9 points (54.5% FG) and 5.6 rebounds for the Rockets. Both minutes and appearances were limited in his first season back after undergoing knee surgery in late 2023.
But even with the relatively low minutes totals, Adams’ impact-based statistics were consistently excellent. And in the playoffs, with the Rockets having gradually built up Adams’ health and stamina over the regular season, Houston turned the big man loose. In seven first-round games against the Golden State Warriors, Adams averaged 5.7 points (60.0% FG), 6.6 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks in 22.1 minutes per game.
Should Adams want a job as a full-time starting center in the NBA, the Rockets probably can’t offer that, since they have an All-Star in Alperen Sengun ahead of Adams on the depth chart. But it’s unclear if such an offer will be available when considering Adams’ age, injury history, and minutes totals from the 2024-25 regular season.
Furthermore, even if that type of bid is made, Adams might prefer to stay in a situation where his body can be more easily load managed. With more than a decade of NBA wear-and-tear, the presence of Sengun can prevent Adams from being overly extended. Furthermore, the ability of Sengun and Adams to play together in “double big” lineups means that even if Adams is the backup center in name, he has a path to potentially playing more minutes — especially in higher-leverage games and in the playoffs — than most backup centers.
That type of arrangement could be appealing to a veteran entering his age-32 season. So, too, could Houston’s status as the team with the fourth-best record (52-30) in the NBA. Even if a team was willing and able to offer Adams both a starting role and a significant salary increase, it might not be appealing for Adams to go to a losing team at this stage of his career.
Adams made $12.6 million this season, and the NBA’s non-taxpayer mid-level exception (NT-MLE) this offseason is expected to be in the range of a $14.1-million starting salary. Many teams have access to the NT-MLE, so a contract in that general annual vicinity would seem realistic. And from Houston’s perspective, it’s unlikely they would ask or expect Adams to take a paycut after an elite playoff performance.
The primary questions would seem to be:
If the offers are financially comparable, does Adams want to stay in Houston?Does any team with significant space beneath the 2025-26 salary cap (there aren’t many) potentially bid above the NT-MLE on Adams? If so, would Houston be willing to use its Bird rights to go even higher and match?Is there any medical red flag on Adams, regarding his surgically repaired knee, that might make Houston less likely to offer the same contract length as another team?
There are enough questions that an Adams return can’t be viewed as inevitable. But, all indications thus far are positive, and the Bird rights available to Stone and the Rockets will allow Houston to be as financially competitive as it wants.
In his article, Iko writes that getting Adams back is arguably the top offseason priority for Stone and the Rockets. However, he cautions that it is not inevitable.
“Because of his two-way production, particularly his elite offensive rebounding, the possibility of Adams being lured away by a playoff team exists,” Iko writes. “Adams would be a natural fit for teams such as San Antonio, New York, Indiana, and both Los Angeles organizations (Lakers and Clippers).”
Those teams are generally not expected to have salary cap room, so there wouldn’t seem to be a financial incentive for Adams to leave Houston for one of them. It simply depends on what he wants from a basketball perspective.
Teams can officially engage in negotiations with their own free agents when the 2025 NBA Finals conclude, which should be within the next one to two weeks. That could be the window for the Rockets to ideally reach an agreement with Adams that could prevent him from hitting the open market on June 30.
Should Adams explore leaving in free agency, signing Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez could become a backup plan for the Rockets, Iko reports. However, the preference seems to be staying the course and avoiding that scenario altogether.