After seven years in Oklahoma City, Kiwi Steven Adams may have found another long-term NBA home with the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Kiwi centre is awaiting sign-off on a multi-team trade that will send him to the 'Big Easy' for the final instalment of a four-year contract, worth US$29.5m (NZ$42.5m) next season.
While his imminent departure from OKC Thunder has already caused considerable anguish among the team's fans, Adams seems likely to land with a franchise that has chased him for a while and won't let him slip through its fingers now.
"We've battled OKC a lot of years and that was one guy we hated facing," admits Oleh Kosel, editorin-chief of SB Nation's The Bird Writes basketball blog.
"Now that he's on the team, everybody's excited. I think this is going to be a great fit."
The Pelicans hired former Cleveland Cavaliers general manager David Griffin to oversee their operation last year, after they earned the rights to draft future superstar Zion Williamson in the 2019 NBA draft.
Kosel claims Adams has been on Griffin's radar for 12 months and may be offered a contract extension after he arrives.
"As soon as Griffin took the job, he said he wanted to establish a really good culture. He's still looking for that.
"From everything we know about Steven Adams, he's one of the top most loyal, hardest working... any kind of positive adjective, it applies to Adams.
"Stan Van Gundy is a coach that demands defence and Steven Adams' forté is doing all the small things that help teams win, especially defensively and on the rebounds.
"I think it's going to be a match made in heaven. People know that he's on an expiring contract, but from what I've heard, the Pelicans like him that much, they'll likely extend him."
The bad news for Adams is his next contract may not be as gaudy as his current payout. Centres are no longer a dominant force in the NBA, with athletic wings and outside shooters now paid the premium.
While the big man's credentials are still valued, Kosel estimates he may need to settle for something closer to US$20m (NZ$28.8m) a year
Last season, New Orleans - and particularly Williamson - struggled with injury and failed to make the Western Conference playoffs, accumulating a 30-win, 42-loss record.
In his first year at the helm, Van Gundy will be under pressure to improve on that outcome.
"Guys like David Griffin are not interested in any kind of rebuild," says Kosel. "When you draft a talent like Zion Williamson, you don't tell him we'll make the playoffs in 3-4 years' time.
"It doesn't work like that. These guys that are born to win demand it every year and I heard he was really disappointed with last year.
"Steven Adams, in seven years at OKC, he made the playoffs six times, so he will also want to make the playoffs. He won't want to go home early."
