It’s the birthplace of jazz. The Big Easy. Home to the Mardi Gras. Home to all manner of fine cuisine – po’ boys, jambalaya, gumbo and plenty else. The setting of the play A Streetcar Named Desire. One of the most popular cities in the United States. New Orleans. And now it’s home to Steven Adams too.

The OKC Thunder have been in Sell Now mode for a few weeks, first Dennis Schröder then Chris Paul then recent acquisitions like Ricky Rubio, Danny Green, Kelly Oubre Jr, and James Johnson. All four picked up alongside draft picks but only the draft picks were wanted (heads up to Trevor Ariza and George Hill). Danilo Gallinari left in free agency. Nerlens Noel is likely to follow. As beloved as he may have been in Oklahoma and within that franchise, whether or not Steven Adams remained was entirely down to whether or not another team was willing to offer enough for him in return. Early evening on Saturday NZT (and 3.45am in Oklahoma) that happened... and Steven Adams is now a New Orleans Pelican.

It’s almost a bit of a shock to the system. Steven Adams had spent his entire seven year career in Oklahoma City, playing 530 regular season games for the franchise. He debuted for a team that featured Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Kendrick Perkins, and Serge Ibaka and was coached by Scotty Brooks. He played his final game for the team alongside Chris Paul, Danilo Gallinari, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and was coached by Billy Donovan. He’s fifth all time for the franchise in total blocks, seventh in total rebounds, and has the best career field goal percentage in Thunder/Sonics history (58.9%). And this is bound to change with all those draft picks coming in but as of now he’s the most recent Thunder player to make an All-Rookie team. Since the move from Seattle, five Thunder players have done that and it’s one hell of a starting five: Russell Westbrook (First Team in 2008-09), James Harden (Second Team in 2009-10), Kevin Durant (First Team in 2007-08), Jeff Green (First Team in 2007-08) & Steven Adams (Second Team in 2013-14). It was already the end of an era but now they’ve really slammed that book closed. No room for sentimentality in a rebuild, friends.

Rebel Sport will have to stock up on Pelicans #12 jerseys now. The specifics of the trade are still murky as there are four teams involved but OKC will be getting a future first rounder as part of the deal, naturally. That makes this the fifth separate trade in the last week or so in which Sam Presti has garnered a first round draft pick in the package. That pick is a 2023 first from Denver, they’re also getting a couple of Pelicans second round picks along with George Hill – rerouted after leaving the Bucks in the Jrue Holiday trade (this trade is kinda tacked onto that one for logistical reasons) – and Darius Miller. There was talk that the Denver pick was this year’s one which would have meant RJ Hampton, of all people, to the Thunder... but that was Woj making a rare error. Machines malfunction too sometimes.

Not quite the blockbuster return that we’d have like to see for Steven Adams but a very good one considering the situation. The fact is that his position has limited value in the current marketplace and his contract sees him earn $27.5m this season which very few teams have the salary wiggle room to take on. Personally I was thinking he’d be more of a trade deadline proposition, get him shooting some threes before then to boost his stocks then flip him and his expiring contract to a team that needs some more defence heading into the playoffs. But instead the Pelicans stepped up and said hold on a second there, mate.

Pretty fascinating times to be rolling into New Orleans. It’s only been one season since the Pelicans traded away face-of-the-franchise Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers and a week ago they flipped Jrue Holiday to the Milwaukee Bucks. But they got goodness in return, especially in the AD trade. What’s more is that they won the draft lottery a year ago and scooped up Zion Williamson, the kind of combination of luck and skill which drastically changes the course of a franchise. That whole drastic rebuild the Thunder are going through? The Pelicans did the same thing but in fast forward mode and are already coming out the other side.

There are question marks about Zion Williamson’s fitness which kept him to only 24 games as a rookie... but he averaged 22.5 ppg in those 24 games despite minutes restrictions – more than enough to flex what he’s capable of at the NBA level already. Zion is the future. He’s the dude they’ve bet the family farm on. Alongside him they also have the Most Improved Player of the past season in Brandon Ingram, as well as the suddenly underrated Lonzo Ball. JJ Redick still has another year on his contract. Eric Bledsoe was picked up in the Holiday trade... safe to say there’s no shortage of guards in town. Josh Hart as well. Plus they just drafted Kira Lewis with the 13th overall pick. Another guard. Bloody hell.

What they don’t have, or didn’t until getting Steven Adams, was any depth in the bigs. Derrick Favors was their main centre last time but he’s rejoined the Utah Jazz in free agency while backup Jahlil Okafor has also signed with the Detroit Pistons. The Pels do have Jaxson Hayes, the eighth overall pick in 2019, but he’s only 20 years old and very raw and to be honest in need of a veteran who can show him the ropes. Which is where Steven Adams comes into the picture.

Funny story: Steven Adams made his one and only NBA three-pointer not only against the New Orleans Pelicans... but on his new home court. That’s called pedigree, folks.

The Pelicans were at their best when Derrick Favors and Zion Williamson were both healthy and available... which didn’t happen often. Favors rebounds very well at both ends, he also plays strong defence and can score nicely in the paint. 9.0 points and 9.8 rebounds last season. They did try Zion at the five a few times but he just didn’t have the positional awareness on defence to make it work, making Favors even more important. When the Pels started 7-23 last season, Favors had played less than half of those games. They had a franchise-record 13 defeats in a row at one stage and Favors missed all but three of them. Not the flashiest player on the roster by any means but one of the most crucial. Except he’s left now. He’s gone. And he needed replacing. Names being bandied about included Aron Baynes, Nerlens Noel, and Robin Lopez.

Adams’ main limitation is his lack of shooting... but Derrick Favors doesn’t shoot the three either (1/7 last season... Adams was 1/3). Stevie’s also a better offensive rebounder, a better passer, just as good of an interior defender, a slightly worse free throw shooter but a better finisher in the paint, and he’s physically larger. It’s actually a bit crazy how well he suits the role left behind for him in New Orleans. At a time when the Pelicans were worried they might have to settle for a downgrade at centre, they’ve arguably ended up with an improvement.

STEVEN ADAMS 2019-20: 20.5 PER | 60.4 TS% | 14.0 ORB% | 24.0 DRB% | 13.2 AST% | 17.3 USG%

DERRICK FAVORS 2019-20: 18.5 PER | 62.0 TS% | 13.9 ORB% | 29.8 DRB% | 9.2 AST% | 14.0 USG%

The other thing here is that the Pelicans just hired a new coach... Stan Van Gundy. Fresh from dominating the show as a commentator during the NBA bubble, SVG is dipping his toes back into the coaching game and that’s good news for Steven Adams as the 61yo Van Gundy has always preferred to use a genuine centre in his starting lineups. That didn’t work out fantastically in Detroit with Andre Drummond but he did get the best out him in those years. Before that he was the head coach of the Orlando Magic where he had a prime Dwight Howard to work with and went all the way to the finals. Hard to believe the current Dwight Howard is the same player as that one but so it goes. And even back in the Miami Heat days SVG had Shaquille O’Neal. It’ll be very interesting to see in what ways the Pellies utilise Steven Adams that the OKC Thunder didn’t but in the very least it looks like he’s in a situation where he’s both wanted and needed.

The Pellies did not make the playoffs last season. They were close enough to be invited to the bubble but lost six out of eight to finish with a 30-42 record in 13th place in the Western Conference. Breaking into the top eight in the West is no easy feat and expectations are such that Alvin Gentry lost his job at the end of the last term... yet after that 8-23 start they went 20-13 prior to the pandemic hiatus. That stretch was when they had their best team available most games. That was when they started to see their Lakers refugees begin to truly settle in. That’s 40% worth of a playoff-calibre season so the foundations are there already. Replacing Jrue Holiday’s production won’t be easy. But replacing Derrick Favors? They already did.

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