Basketball: Big shot for Adams to get noticed

The NBA draft is just round the corner for Rotorua-born Steven Adams.

He will move one step closer to being drafted into an NBA team when he attends a scouting combine tomorrow in Chicago.

The combine gives NBA scouts and club representatives an opportunity to take a closer look at potential players before the 2013 draft next month.

The two-day combine is televised in the US and players are put through their paces with drills and small games.

About 60 players have been invited to this year's NBA combine including players from college, the NBA Development League and international competitions.

Adams tweeted yesterday that he had arrived in Chicago and was looking forward to the two-day trial.

The 19-year-old made himself available for the 2013 NBA draft earlier this year, after playing one season for college side Pittsburgh.

American sports journalist Jonathan Wasserman said Adams needed to prove a point at the combine.

"Steven Adams' goal at the combine should be to show scouts and executives he's more than just an athlete," he wrote on a US news website.

"With a number of promising centres in the pack, Adams will have a lot of competition when fighting for draft position.

"Proving he's got at least some offensive polish could give him an edge considering his elite physical tools."

Adams is considered quite young to be making himself available for NBA selection, with most college players waiting three or four years before entering the draft.

If the seven-foot tall centre makes it into the NBA, he will become only the fourth New Zealand-born basketball player to play in the world's top league.