Adams played high school ball for Mount St. Joseph where he was a three-time MIAA A Conference champion. He committed to play in college for St. Bonaventure, averaging 17.9 points, 5.0 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game as a sophomore and was named a first-team All-Atlantic 10 player. In his junior season, Adams finished second in the Atlantic 10 Conference in scoring, first in assists and second in steals. He was named to the First Team All-Atlantic 10 for the second straight year. Adams missed the first six games of his senior season. In February 2018, Adams scored 40- and 44-point games against Duquesne and St. Louis. As a senior, Adams was the fourth leading scorer in the Atlantic 10 with 19.1 points per gameto go with 5.2 assists per game. He led St. Bonaventure to a 26-8 record and upset of UCLA in the NCAA Tournament. He was named conference co-Player of the Year with Peyton Aldridge. After the season, Adams was invited to the Reese's College All-Star Game but missed it with an ankle injury and instead played in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.
After going undrafted in the 2018 NBA draft, Adams was signed by the Atlanta Hawks to a two-way contract. Under the terms of the deal he will split time between the Hawks and their NBA G League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks. Adams made his NBA debut on October 17, 2018, recording 1 rebound and 1 assist in 4 minutes of action in a blowout 127–106 loss to the New York Knicks. He scored 23 points in his G League debut in a win over the Grand Rapids Drive. On February 20, 2019, the Atlanta Hawks announced they had re-signed Adams to a multi-year contract. On July 13, 2019, Adams was waived by the Hawks.
On August 20, 2019, Adams signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Milwaukee Bucks. He was cut in training camp and assigned to the Bucks’ G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd. Adams scored a career-high 39 points including 6 3-pointers in a 122-115 win over the Grand Rapids Drive. On March 4, 2020, Adams dished out a career-high 14 assists to go along with his 19 points in a 106-108 loss to the Canton Charge. He averaged 21.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game for the Herd.
After the G League season, Adams was signed by the Portland Trail Blazers during the COVID-19 NBA restart to replace veteran forward Trevor Ariza, who opted out of returning to the NBA in Orlando due to child custody reasons.
