Adams’s esteemed career continues, but his numbers have fallen away from their apex. He was an 8.6 point, 11.5 rebound, 2.3 assist and 1.1 block per game starter as recently as 2022-23 with the Memphis Grizzlies, but after missing most of the second half of that season and the entirety of 2023-24 with a knee ligament injury, he returned to find himself benched behind Sengun, and his numbers took a big hit accordingly. In the 2024-25 regular season, Adams averaged only 3.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game, his lowest outputs since his rookie campaign more than a decade ago.
That said, any diminished production is more than anything the result of diminished minutes. Deemed mostly incompatible with Sengun – with whom he shared the court for only 162 minutes all season, albeit extremely effective ones – Adams was limited to only 13.7 minutes per game, but his per-minute stats were entirely in line with his career numbers, a testament to the fact that the talent is still as there as ever, even if the opportunities with the Rockets were not.
Furthermore, Adams has never been best assessed through his basic counting stats. As a backup center, you could not ask for much better than an unselfish rebounder and fearless paint muscler who shares the ball and backs down from no one. In this respect, the Rockets would surely like to have him back, just as every other team would like to have him. Including the Warriors, whom he just bullied down low.
Turning 32 this summer, Adams might instead prefer to get what might well be the last eight-figure multi-year contract of his career from someone on the free agency market, just as the comparable Jonas Valanciunas did at the same age this time last season, ideally with a starting spot attached. The Rockets’ financial constraints must mean prioritizing keeping together their front seven, and they also have Jock Landale in the fold, with a valid (albeit unguaranteed) contract for next season at $8 million. Adams, certainly, is better than Landale. But money is tight, the role is small, and to have both is to assign limited resources inefficiently. Whether Adams returns or not, then, it seems unlikely that both will.
