Grizzlies: Here’s why Steven Adams is primed for a breakout season

After a Memphis Grizzlies season that featured the Justise Winslow experiment, something that failed miserably, the same team will be attempting to resurrect another player’s career. That player is Steven Adams.

At one point in time, Adams was thought of as a center who could break into All-Star status after a couple of strong seasons beside Russell Westbrook. Unfortunately, things haven’t panned out like that, as the Kiwi big man is coming off of arguably the worst season of his career.

The Grizzlies, however, might be the perfect fit for Adams. I’ll explain why.

The Memphis Grizzlies’ system is built to help Steven Adams get back to being a solid offensive player

The primary downside attached to bringing Adams to Beale Street is simple — he hasn’t produced offensively in years. Part of this is due to the fact that he doesn’t have a developed 3-point shot, while the other part is the fact that he simply works harder on the defensive end of the ball. It’s more natural to him.

In Oklahoma City, he seemingly reached a ceiling of 13.9 points per game while playing for the Thunder. In two seasons, he reached that total twice consecutively, leading up until the year that Westbrook was no longer on the team. Without strong point guard play, Adams struggled, averaging just 10.9 points in his first Westbrook-less year and 7.6 the next season.

So if you’re trying to replicate the environment that Westbrook brought forth in Oklahoma City, is there a better player to emulate that than Ja Morant? That’s a rhetorical question — the answer is no.

Defensively, Adams is one of the more solid centers in the league, but offensively, he was only capable of thriving on a team with a point guard who attacked the basket relentlessly. On the Grizzlies, Morant will be that point guard, while Adams waits for him to dish off passes for easy buckets.

Adams will also have the benefit of working alongside a solid floor-stretching big in Jaren Jackson Jr. To this point in his career, he hasn’t had much room to work down low, even with some talented players around him. Between JJJ’s ability to space the floor and Morant’s ability to threaten in the paint, buckets should come easier for Adams.

Steven Adams has been working on the development of his non-existent jumper this offseason

At this point in his career, Adams is a 7.7% 3-point shooter. In his career, he is 1-13 on long-range attempts. And while he was never expected to be a shooter, the 28pyear old big has started to realize that he needs to develop a deep shot to take his game to the next level. As a result, he has been seen taking more jump shots in workouts, including this one with Cavaliers rookie Evan Mobley.

Again, we shouldn’t expect Adams to become a knock-down 3-point shooter, but if he can bring himself to the level that we saw Valanciunas shoot, his offensive game would benefit immensely. Valanciunas knocked down 36.8% of his long-range buckets last season, most of which were uncontested.

Between the shooting factor and the Kiwi big man being in a generally improved situation, it’s hard to see him not having a bounce-back year. He’ll still be a distinct downgrade offensively at the center spot, but his defense should be better than JV’s.

Don’t be surprised if Adams is has a breakout year.