It was already a case of very few guarantees when Steven Adams wrapped up his first season with the New Orleans Pelicans. Either your name is Zion Williamson or Brandon Ingram or your place on the Pellies is up in the air right now. Then Stan Van Gundy got the flick.

And thus ends Steven Adams’ first season as a New Orleans Pelican. It might yet be his only season as a Pelican, there are never any guarantees come free agency/trade window time... the last couple years have shown that for sure.

Let’s be honest here, the New Orleans Pelicans are probably not going to make the playoffs. Even with the scope being expanded to tenth place with the play-in potential, they’re still not gonna make it.

What exactly is Steven Adams’ role for the Pelicans these days? It’s a simple question to answer: he defends hard, he does the dirty work, he sets the cultural tone. But when his box score numbers seem to swing drastically from one night to the next that answer suddenly doesn’t quite seem sufficient.

The trade deadline came and the trade deadline went. Months of speculation were brought to a conclusion. How would the New Orleans Pelicans add to and complement their young core? What moves could be in store to launch this 19-24 team into playoff contention?

When bringing you these yarns about Steven Adams throughout the NBA season, it’s always important to keep things in context. Especially for a team-first dude like Adams who wouldn’t think twice about sacrificing his personal stats for team success

This is such a weird season, man. The Pelicans started 4-2. Then they sunk to 5-10. Next thing they reel off a few wins and are up to 11-12... then come a few more defeats and that’s been the pattern.

The first one of these Steve-o round-ups deliberately avoided making wider judgements about a team that came into this season with a new head coach, a couple new starters, their two best players both under the age of 24, trying to play a very different system of basketball…

Not gonna lie, it’s been difficult to get a handle on this Steven Adams on the New Orleans Pelicans thing and it’s nothing to do with the player or the team either. This whole NBA season has been ridiculous so far.

Sit back and listen to the man himself talk about the whole drama. Straight from the horse’s mouth. No agendas or speculation, just pure relevance. Here’s a bit of what he had to say.

It was a beautiful run while it lasted. Steven Adams as the big man of the Oklahoma City Thunder, a bloke who so perfectly represented all that they were trying to achieve as a franchise. But all things must pass.

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.

Greetings, fair squires, and may golden horses carry you. Since you’re still above ground, here’s a bit of a treat to put some lead in your pencil. It’s the fifth annual edition of an old favourite.

While the Nets just hired a new head coach, the Thunder have agreed to let theirs go. Billy Donovan departing by mutual consent at the end of his contract after five years with the franchise.

Before game one, Charles Barkley said on the telly preview that he thought Steven Adams would average 20 & 20 against the Rockets, he was too big and nobody could guard him, basically. Fast forward to the end of the series and he averaged 10.1 points and 11.6 rebounds.

There’s been such a buzz (in Thunder circles at least) about the prospect of a fully rested Steven Adams after lockdowns and what a boost that could give this team. First few games we saw an energised and aggressive Kiwi Steve and it felt obvious that the break had indeed done him good.

One of the main reasons that Steven Adams is such a beloved character in Aotearoa is that despite how embedded he is in the high-stakes world of National Basketball he still just seems like a down to earth kiwi fella.