20 Jul 2013

Thunder won't release Adams

6:52 am on 20 July 2013

Basketball New Zealand is refusing to take the Oklahoma City Thunder head-on over the unavailability of Steven Adams for the upcoming test series against Australia.

The organisation's chief executive Iain Potter is still trying to confirm reports that Adams' NBA team won't release their first draft pick for the series, despite Basketball New Zealand agreeing to pay insurance costs of $25,000.

Potter says Oklahoma is only theoretically obliged to release Adams to play for the Tall Blacks and he'll understand if the club chooses not to.

He says it's more important they work with Oklahoma to ensure Adams is available for next year's World Cup programme.