Steven Adams has had an up and down first 14 games for the Thunder, from injury to admitted lapses in focus. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman

The Thunder’s season started and much of the national talk (non-Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant related) was about Steven Adams.

His postseason plus a preseason of impressive performances had multiple media outlets ranking him as a Top 50 NBA player. But rankings are subjective. Adams is just 23 and still with room to grow offensively.

“For people to say ‘this is the expectation, he’s gonna be a 16 (points) and 10 (rebounds) guy now when that’s not who he’s ever been,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “We need Steven to be who Steven’s always been. When he does that, it really impacts our team.”