Steven Adams
It's a mistake not to release Steven Adams for the World Championship in Spain later this year, according to basketball coach Tab Baldwin.
The IMS Payroll Hawks mentor says the New Zealand-born Oklahoma City Thunder player will benefit more if he represents the Tall Blacks in August-September.
The rookie centre has declared he is unavailable to represent his country and will instead focus on honing his skills over the northern summer with his NBA franchise.
"I don't agree with that [not releasing Adams]. The NBA can give him knowledge but they can't give him the experience because very little equates with the experience Steve will get at the world champs," Baldwin says of the Rotorua-born player who will turn 21 on July 20.
The Thunder play San Antonio Spurs from 1pm today (NZ time) in the western conference finals in a bid to make the NBA playoffs .
It is anticipated Adams will clock up more court time because power forward Serge Ibaka has picked up a calf strain which means he's unlikely to return before Oklahoma's campaign against the Spurs.
Baldwin says if the 2.13m Kiwi plays for Nenad Vucinic's Tall Blacks he won't just be a "role player" - who comes off the bench to defend and rebound for marquee teammates such as Hall of Famer Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook - but will be a "pre-eminent player".
"He won't get that sort of experience from the Thunder," says the 56-year-old Florida-born coach who took the Tall Blacks to the 2002 world champs semifinals, the best finish for any Oceania team in the history of the competition.
Baldwin's Hawks are sitting on the top of the NZ NBL table and should make the playoffs in Wellington in early July, barring any colossal upsets in the hunt for the Bay's second crown.
He says it smacks of double standards that the Thunder have released guards Durant and Westbrook for the US team, who are in the same pool C as New Zealand, at the world champs but not Adams.
"Why the contradiction?
"I have no vested interest in Steven here so I don't have to spin the argument in any direction," says the five-time NBL title-winning coach.
Baldwin says listening to media reports and reading Facebook postings from Adam show the former Wellington academy player "comes across as a very proud Kiwi".
"It'll be a dream come true for him to come back to play for the Tall Blacks ... ," he says, adding Adams will no doubt fly his country's flag for decades when he does.
While he is creating ripples in New Zealand, he says Adams isn't an All Star or super star in the US just yet.
Baldwin doesn't think Oklahoma or NBA have concerns about how this country may handle the emerging NBA talent who opposition big men have labelled "The Seven Foot Pest", "Stone Cold Steven Adams" or "The White Kendrick Perkins" who is Adams' Thunder teammate, a 208cm, 122kg brute who slips on the knuckle duster with aplomb.
"It's nothing negative towards New Zealand or a slap in the face because we're not big enough to support him here [or risk injuries]."
While it is disappointing that Adams won't be playing for the Tall Blacks, he says it comes down to the Thunder wielding the power because they pay the great Kiwi talent's exorbitant salary.
Fundamentally it's about the Thunder and where Adams fits into their programme.
"I'll be very surprised if Steven won't be available for the Olympic qualifiers next year."
Baldwin says it was the same scenario with NZ-born Sean Marks who is assistant to Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
He hastens to add the availability of Marks, who Adams is rapidly surpassing as New Zealand's greatest basketball export, often hinged on whether the Miami Heat or the Toronto Raptors felt like releasing him.