The Rockets and Steven Adams have agreed to a contract extension, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports that the veteran center will receive a three-year, $39MM deal.
Adams’ extension is fully guaranteed, sources tell Charania, and does not feature a player or team option, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link). The big man from New Zealand earned $12.6MM this past season.
As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (Twitter link), Adams was extension-eligible until June 30, the last day of the current league year.
Adams, who turns 32 years old next month, missed about half of the 2022/23 season with a knee injury. That same injury, which eventually required surgery, kept him on the shelf for the entire ’23/24 campaign. After a 21-month absence, he returned to action in late October.
The Rockets brought Adams along slowly to open ’24/25, frequently giving him extra rest days and limiting his playing time. He wound up making 58 regular season appearances and averaging a career-low 13.7 minutes per game.
While his production looked fairly modest on the surface — he averaged 3.9 points and 5.6 rebounds — Adams quietly posted the best offensive rebounding percentage of his career. His +9.4 net rating during the regular season and +14.1 mark in the postseason were both team highs, making him a key reserve for Houston.
GM Rafael Stone said retaining Adams would be a high priority this offseason, and subsequent reporting confirmed as much. Instead of becoming an unrestricted free agent, he opted to remain with the Rockets.
While there has been no indication that Houston is interested in trading Adams, it’s worth noting that, depending on the structure of the deal, he may remain trade-eligible after signing his new extension (assuming his annual raises don’t exceed 5%). Had he re-signed with the team as a free agent, he would not have been trade-eligible until December 15.