Steven Adams is currently first in the league in total offensive rebounds, seven ahead of Andre Drummond (236 vs. 229). However, Adams is only fifteenth in total rebounds, and is in exactly 100th place league-wide in defensive rebounds (for reference, Terry Rozier has more defensive rebounds than Adams does). It’s well-known that the Thunder strategy is for Westbrook to get defensive rebounds so he can 1.) pad his stats, 2.) initiate the offense faster (while padding his stats), and 3.) chase triple doubles (this might fall under stat-padding).
If Adams were allowed to rebound the ball the way he was built to, I have no doubt he would be a nightly 15/15 threat. Give him a few more touches and you might see him put up strings of 20/20 games like Andre Drummond did that one time a few years ago. However, we won’t be able to know for sure until Chucksell Statpadbrook is off the team, and if Statpadbrook were no longer throwing lobs to Adams, you might actually see a dip in efficiency from the Big Kiwi.
So I’m undecided. Does Statpadbrook’s presence on the team help Adams’ stats or does it hurt his stats? I’m going to go eat a Hot Pocket and mull this one over.