This is a lot to give up, and Capela is a really good centre, who by all accounts was a character guy, and that will be tough. But over the last few weeks as we had time to prepare for this during the rumour season, I've come around to it. And I cautiously agree with the OG poster in this thread. Firstly, with the team as currently constructed, and the style moving to more iso-ball, with less pick and rolls - as much as I don't like it - it was not optimizing Capela, and he was increasingly becoming less of a good fit. The Rockets are doubling down on the small-ball, and getting a quality defender AND shooter in Covington, who is big enough to play as a 4 in a lot of lineups in today's NBA, will hopefully help give Tucker some rest and keep him fresh for the playoffs (assuming we do play a traditional 5 at least something approaching decent minutes). Also, the first rounder is tough to give up, but by all accounts the 2020 draft is really really weak. The top-10 let alone the top-20/25 where the Rockets pick will land. On top of that, Covington is on a good contract and we don't have to worry about him bolting as high-priced UFA for a couple years. Jordan Bell is still young and could be a boon - though I am not getting too optimistic. I do remember being pissed that the Warriors got him for cash from the Bulls, because he was projected to be almost a Draymond Green-lite. Has not worked out that way yet, but you never know. Losing by far our best rebounder is where my biggest concern is, but I'm banking on Morey finding a solid centre who can rebound and defend, and ensure we don't rely on the Tuck-wagon exclusively. But let's see. Azim da Dream
This deal can be good for us and can be better and still sucks as a Rockets fan because like many things Tilman has done in these past years, hes not maximizing returns in order to save money. The Rockets have always been in desperate need for depth and you can find depth for minimal assets but take on money. They allowed their mle to expire last year doing nothing and now they've sent out 18mil in salary and got back 11mil. Now yes they technically can use that extra money to take on salary elsewhere and improve depth, but that would necessitate an owner willing to spend into the luxury tax
I could see the Rockets being a little better after this trade due to their style of play. But that's IF Covington is still really good defensively like we think he is. Unfortunately, without a rim protector (not that Clint was very good at it but he's better than we have now), they're really gonna have to bust their ass with the switching scheme on defense. Problem is, effort on the defensive end hasn't been their strong suit this year. They're gonna have to clean that up for this trade to benefit the team.
Yeah, but there are two sides of the ball, and we have been getting abused in the paint the last week with small ball - score on one end, give it right back in the paint. We cannot stop anybody in the paint right now!
they weren't stopping anyone before the trade. some of yall are unable to understand this and how modern basketball works but the rockets are better defensively now
Can someone post the Pelton article from ESPN? https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/28637897/nba-trade-grades-wins-capela-covington-deal Thanks!
"Modern Basketball" you mean with no tall basketball players, is this what modern means - playing vertically challenged players?
Can’t wait to see the updates from OP after Roco will have a 1-7 shooting on 3s after his first game back.
Not that happy with the trade, but I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt. Looking forward to seeing what the new look Rockets can do against the Lakers tomorrow night!
While I agree with you....our shooters are left wide open right now and sometimes they throw up enough bricks to revitalize the wards. I guess that's what they mean by live and die by the 3. I'd like to see us pick up olynyk (6'11) to get another shooter out there.
A low key side story of the recent ultra small ball experiment is that Sefolosha is making a bigger impact. Minute management should be a bit more manageable (though with Toni at rein you never know) now with the new additions (people also forget that with Capela’s nagging injury, there is prob ~30% chance he won’t play at nearly decent capacity this year). I’ll be very content to have an additional big body cheap C next for match up purpose (I keep my expectation low for the buyout), and roll with radical lineups. The Houston Rockets is a unique team in the NBA.
this is very promising and comforting cause I cant remember a single occasion that you were wrong in your takes at clutchfans.net
We need a center that can shoot or at least has the threat of scoring outside of 3 feet, one that can hit a respectable amount of free throws as well.
