How does one fill the void left by an all-league player? Well, when that player is Kevin Durant, it's almost impossible to do, but Steven Adams is hell-bent on doing his part to make sure Oklahoma City Thunder won't skip a beat as they transition from the Durant and Russell Westbrook era, to potentially the Russell and Adams show.
Adams shouldered more of the offensive load on Wednesday as the Thunder skipped out of Philadelphia with a win on opening night, finishing with 16 points on 16 shots.
"I was encouraged tonight that Steven took 16 shots," OKC coach Billy Donovan said. "He didn't shoot a particularly good percentage, but it's encouraging to see that most of his shots are coming around the basket. That's a good thing for us."
"If I make them," deadpanned Adams post-game. "I don't wanna throw them up and miss them. Missing dunks and stuff. It's one of those things where you just have to get a rhythm and they'll start falling."
Adams is one of those NBA players that genuinely comes back each season a better player than the one before. Now entering his fourth NBA campaign, his scoring output has increased each season, along with his shooting percentage.
Adams says that he doesn't specifically pinpoint one part of his game to work on during the summer, rather, he works on his overall play. Something that's helped him become one of the league's best big men.
"I always work on the full game because the team can change each year, so you have to try and do everything so if they [coaching staff] do ask for a triangle, I can do a triangle," said Adams.
"You try and fit for what they ask for. If you do that, you'll put your team in the best position to win. It doesn't matter who scores, as long as we get the win."
That effort has not gone unnoticed by the Thunder coaching staff, who hope that in the absence of Serge Ibaka, Adams becomes the team's defensive anchor.
"I've developed a lot of confidence and trust in Steven defensively," said Donovan. "Seeing what he did last year in the playoffs where he had to guard some power forwards where we weren't sure he could do it, [but] he was able to do it.
"He's a smart defender, he's good on his feet, he understands angles, positioning, getting his size and strength into the game without fouling. I've got a lot of confidence in him playing a multitude of different players."
Circumstance has pushed Adams to the forefront of the Thunder leadership group, and even though he's only 23-years-old himself, he's already the third longest tenured player on the OKC roster - behind only Nick Collison and Westbrook.
Adams says he's shouldered more leadership responsibility, but there's still a learning curve.
"I have taken more of a leadership [role] to the young guys, but I'm still a young guy myself. I'm still learning a lot from Nick and Russell, and the way they play the system. Just the fine details. We're trying to complement that, stay in our lane and learn. We're still young [ourselves]."
Even with an improved Adams as one of the team's focal points, the Thunder will still face numerous challenges in trying to make another deep playoff run without Durant and Ibaka. The New Zealander understands the enormity of the task ahead.
"We got a lot of work to do. We're confident with the group we have moving forward, but we have our work cut out for us."