NBA

Rockets sign C Steven Adams to three-year, $39 million contract extension

Adams was slated to be a free agent this summer, so this agreement keeps him off the market.

A soon-to-be 32-year-old averaging 3.9 points per game wouldn’t normally command attention, but the center is a different breed. A winner at nearly all of his stops, Adams is a brute force of stability inside, consistently performing as one of the top offensive rebounders in the NBA. There’s more, as Adams is serviceable as a passer, and sets dominating screens. In all, the veteran offers an assortment of skills, all useful to the Rockets.

Adams’ fit in Houston is secure, and while a three-year extension might be a stretch, the dollars are perfectly acceptable for a backup center. He isn’t just a backup, though. Adams is a locker-room stalwart for the rising Rockets, and proved in these playoffs that he can share the floor with franchise player Alperen Sengun.

Armed with talented young players and attractive assets, Houston is bound to take another step forward next season. For that to occur, there will be changes for the Rockets this summer. Securing Adams before the chaos is good business by Rafael Stone, who’s seemingly improved at his job each year. The next month, however, will be Stone’s biggest test yet. Only the Spurs face a more important offseason than the Rockets.

Grade: B

MLB

Marlins 4, Nationals 3

Washington was 28-30 at the end of May — a solid mark for a club in the middle stage of its rebuild — but it’s been mostly downhill since. Now 30-40, the Nationals have dropped seven in a row. The immediate-term outlook isn’t sunny, either, as Washington faces Eury Perez today.

Reds 11, Tigers 1

Don’t look now, but Elly De La Cruz is having an awesome — dare I say, MVP-caliber — June. This explosion from one of the game’s best wasn’t unforeseen, however, as the 23-year-old boasts the power, speed, and dominance to vault the Reds into contention. De La Cruz went 1-for-4 with a home run yesterday.

Cubs 2, Pirates 1

This has been a surprisingly tight series. Despite the Cubs sitting in first place in the NL Central and the Pirates lounging in last, each of the first three games of this set have been one-run contests. Surely, today’s tilt will end in a blowout.

Orioles 6, Angels 5

In a rugged AL East, it’ll probably be too little, too late, but the 29-40 Orioles are finally playing solid baseball. Baltimore has won six of 10, and while pitching is still an issue, the club’s young position-player talent — dormant or at the surface — has always existed.

The Angels needed to inject some excitement into the team, and promoting Christian Moore did just that. The 22-year-old has yet to record a hit — he went 0-for-3 in this affair — but he adds plenty of juice to Los Angeles’ nine-hole.