Clint Capela - Looking Good in Preseason

Capela has a lot of potential. To me, the sky is the limit for him. Some people like to compare him to Deandre Jordan but I don't like that comparison too much. Clint is going to be a special player in his own rights and hopefully future players will want to be compared to him.

The reason why I don't like the Deandre Jordan comparison is because they are so different in many ways. Jordan is bigger, longer and more athletic than Clint. Jordan relies everything in athleticism and is a monster defensively and rebounding.

Clint on the other hand, is also gifted athletically but not as much as Deandre Jordan. He may not be as long and big like Deandre Jordan but he's not that far off. What truly separates Clint from Jordan is his ability to grow into a decent mid range shooter and a more well rounded offensive player. Jordan isn't an offensive player at all. He relies on lobs and putbacks.

Clint Capela also seem to be a much more intelligent basketball player than Jordan. He is still very young and inexperience but his court awareness is miles ahead of Jordan when Deandre was in his 2nd year. Clint, for such a young player who is a horrid free throw shooter, improved his free throws tremendously in just a year.

If Clint Capela continues to improve every year like he did this season, along with improving his shooting, post-defense, and a post game, he will be a better player than Deandre Jordan. Deandre Jordan is a good player simply by athleticism and length but he has so many flaws in his game. Capela isn't as physically gifted but is more gifted talent-wise.

If Clint continues to improve at this rate, Rockets fan, you got yourself a very special player. A player who will replace Dwight Howard years from now.

 

Yeah, it may be premature, but Clint may be the franchise center of the future.

This season will be a proving grounds for him.

 

I agree, I don't think you sign Dwight beyond this year, the team will have enough without him...and he is in decline and his knees and back are a concern.

DD

 

The best case scenario is we win a chip with Dwight and he comes back for a discount . If we could get Dwight for 15 million it would be a steal under the new salary cap . I don't think he will come that cheap , but the man has made plenty of money it's not like he never got a big contract . If he could come back for 18 it would be relatively fair price and a great deal . I don't think Capela will be at Dwight's level consistently next year although I guess he could have taken a huge leap this summer .. We will see .

I think we have a great frontline for the future of we can keep Dwight for a reasonable deal , Capela and Dmo develop further , and hopefully one of dekker , harrel , or jones break out . I think this year the three headed monster of Dwight , Dmo , and Capela could be huge . With Capela and Dwight in the game you are superb defensively and both can provide enough garbage points via offensive rebounding and alleys oops to make it work on offense . Dmo is also no slouch defensively especially if it's against smaller players . On offense it's self explanatory .

 

Old tweet:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Since March 30, Clint Capela is averaging 16.9 points, 14.6 rebounds and 4.6 blocks per 36 minutes on 67.9% shooting.</p>&mdash; Kevin Pelton (@kpelton) <a href="https://twitter.com/kpelton/status/590708835918184448">April 22, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

Capela was one of those 12 with PER >= 20 in the last playoffs.

 

thanks for posting that. he played in every playoff game. i hope he can be on that list next season with a few more minutes played. if he can then we should be gold in the playoffs if the rest of the team is healthy.

 

You are crazy, the kid has potential but a long way to prove he can take over from Dwight in 12 months time. Here is what you do, keep them both. Use Capela more and Dwight a little less.

 

how much the.most you willing to.pay d12 next yr?

 

I remember hearing somewhere that scouts consider a long playoff run to be the equivalent of one season's worth of experience for rookies, if they can get PT.

The fact that Capela came on late and made his presence known in the playoffs is huge for his development. It's probably accelerated and raised his growth curve quite a bit. I don't know if Clutchfans' wishful thinking regarding his ceiling will play out quite that way, but it sure is going to be one of the big storylines of this year.

Keep in mind that he has virtually no offensive moves at this time, and that all plays are run for him as a finisher, executed by the guards. Not sure if this will ever have to change in his career, but it was always seen as a limiting factor for a guy like Ibaka, for instance.

 

We don't pay dwight Les does. And if he's willing to shell out to keep dwight i'm all for it.

Dwight still has 5 good years in him, and you can extend his career with capella.

 

you know there's such a thing as capspace right?

 

Capela is still a couple years away IF WE'RE LUCKY, absolute best case scenario, from having a similar impact on the floor that Dwight has today. If Dwight stays healthy this year, I absolutely want him back.

 

You pay him what you have to unfortunately. Capela ain't gonna develop enough to replace Dwight a year from now. My hope is that Dwight is reasonable with the Rockets and doesn't demand 30 mil/yr considering Morey hopes to bring in another star next summer(I think his name rhymes with Bevin Gurant) not to mention that Dwight is getting to a point where he may no longer be able to play 82 games a season anymore.

If the Rockets can extend him at the same amount he's making now and he doesn't have another injury-riddled season this year where he misses half the games, then that's a no-brainer. 20-22 mil/yr under the new cap will be a reasonable price for a franchise center like Dwight. The problem of course will be in 2-3 years when his athleticism has declined and he's half the player he used to be. But we cross that bridge when we get to it.

 

The question hopefully is "has Capela developed enough to replace Dwight if Durant, Harden, and Lawson are starters?" I see Howard and Dutant's contracts as likely mutually exclusive for the Rockets.

 

I just don't see how that's possible. You need what Dwight brings to the table in the playoffs. He's been an absolute beast for the Rockets in both postseasons since joining this team. Capela will not be ready to contribute at that level a year from now. Hell, odds are he'll never be able to duplicate(or even do 80%) what Dwight does.

Also, despite the animosity between the two in the past, wouldn't one expect Durant to want Dwight extended before ever agreeing to sign here? Especially once he suffers through an entire season of Enis Kanter's "defense" in OKC.

 

Ibaka developed a mid range shot. Would be nice if Clint could do the same. I see it in him.

 

There's a lot of Shawn Kemp in this guy....He's got that kind of upside... develop post moves,handle...voila.

 

I agree...Capela is not even close to Howards level...Give him some time to develop any offensive move at least...

 

Everything you have posted is SPOT ON!