How much longer are we going to pretend Clint Capela is a Center?

So you would be categorically wrong AND contentually wrong.

All 4 of those named ARE starters

Also: Gordon would start for many teams

 

Which teams would trade for him? The best thing about him is his career contract.

 

Dont' want to deal with teams who want to switch centers for Capela. Want teams who are willing to give up a superstar. Will Bulls give up Butler for Capela? Willing to deal for a guy just a tier below too. Would Hornets give up Batum for Capela? Those are the deals I'm more interested in.

 

I would love a superstar, too. But he is not a starting center on most teams --> how is he going to yield a superstar if traded. Would / should be happy with a better center. He has come a long way but would you pay him like a veteran center. I like him only because we are not paying much for him.

 

Not getting a superstar on a one for one swap, he'd be a throw in. That's exactly my point. Some posters believe teams would trade Capela right now for their own center. I am saying those are the teams I'm not interested in trading with.

 

No, the best thing about him is that he hasn't stopped improving since he arrived in Houston and that was 3 years ago.

Here are some other good things about him:

- At 22, has played in the playoffs every season he's been here and faced the best playoff competition in the NBA.
- He is on a contract which allows us to keep him for up to 6 more years from now, so till he's 28.
- Has not even started an entire season's worth of games yet, which shows there is still room for significant development.
- Is an excellent rebounder.
- Good shot blocker.
- Good scorer inside.
- Good defender, both team and individual. He is not a liability, occasionally cleans up for his teammates, does what he's told, occasionally has lapses.
- Poor FT shooter, but FT% is significantly up every season thus far.
- Elite efficiency on PnR.
- Excellent chemistry with our 1 indispensable player.
- Hard worker OFF the court, as you can see from the improvement in hook shot and strength.
- He jumps higher, runs faster, and moves quicker than most starting C's in the NBA.
- Not a selfish player.
- Fits well in MDA's system.

Downsides:

- Poor FT%. Again, improving on this non stop.
- Not among the strongest. Yet, he has never stopped getting stronger, and he is athletic advantages over most.
- No range on his jumper. And we don't need it right now.

Oh and he will be 25 in 2020.

There are at least 15 teams who would trade their starting C to us straight up for Capela and you would see this if you could understand the true overall value of Capela (track record, attitude, work ethic, experience, talent, potential, cost) instead of what he did the past 2 weeks. I won't bother listing teams out because that's just an invitation for you to nit pick at a subjective list.

Here's what's objective: Capela is a 22 year old starter on a team on pace to win almost 60, has the highest quality playoff experience, has never stopped improving, always works hard, has at least a couple of excellent qualities on the court already.

 

tyson chandler is listed at 230 and he's a center

 

Lol. Do you know why he (Noel) isn't playing???!! It isn't because he isn't capable!! Just because you're a starter doesn't make you the better player, insert EGO here_______.

 

He definitely CAN be traded. I don't consider anyone but Harden untradeable. But he is certainly more than a throw in, and he is definitely not garbage like some people make it seem. He is a young and fast improving player on a tremendous contract with a few excellent NBA skills already. I'm saying if Capela is part of a deal, the player coming back better be f'ing good and easy to lock into a contract because the 6 coming years of Capela's career is nothing to sneeze at (as a trade asset).

Every season he has surprised us with his improvement. Let's say after 2 more summers he can hit 65% of his FT's, is able to play much improved interior defense and is a bit stronger. We are suddenly looking at a HELL of a player aged 24 and none of those improvements are unreasonable to expect. In fact they are exactly in line with his improvement thus far, he has improved in all those areas regularly.

I would love to get Noel at the same time as Capela, but don't want to pay any of them big money as long as we don't have a second star. We need one more main guy, someone better than Gordon. Noel/Capela are not that guy, at least not yet.

 

Saved me a bunch of typing.

 

I'm bored tell me why?

 

True but truly that didn't take a whole lot

 

When DeAndre Jordan was 22 he averaged 7.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in 25.6 minutes. At age 22 Clint is averaging 11.9 and 7.6 in 23.4 minutes. Forgive me if I think Clint is on schedule and has room to grow.

 

I don't think that fair to Deandre Jordan. Coming out of college, yes, he was extremely raw like Capela and needed time to grow, but 6-11, 250, 7-6 wingspan with the ulimate size and athleticism (according to NBAdraft.net) is nothing to sneeze at. He even got compared to Dwight Howard as well. Who did others compare Clint to? Serge Ibaka defensively, which I would love that.

 

First thank you for the Capela lesson. He is young and does have upside. There is more to my statements and thoughts then just the last two weeks.

First I never cut down Capela I asked for the teams that would trade their starting center for him. You stated 1/2 the league. I don't think that at all. Yes, is young and has upside and in the future may even be a super role player. Harden is here and now and most players can't keep their level of play this high season after season. Capela is serviceable now but there are very viewable holes in his game, that time may fix. We need someone on Harden's timeline, IMO.

 

That's a good point for sure, but we also have to have people who will grow with Harden. Capela happens to play REALLY well with Harden RIGHT NOW, so if it's Harden we are worried about, Capela is the last guy we should think of trading. You are worried about time, but Capela is not a project. There were holes in his game that disappeared just 6 months ago. And a year before that. And a year before that. If one or two more holes disappear from his game at a slower pace than he's been improving, we are looking at a super role player at 24 or 25 years old. Is he just going to stop improving mentally at that point? Is he just going to practice free throws and 3's and post moves forever and not get better? That's what we have with Capela. I always place an extremely high value on people who show improvement through WORK off the court, and people who are never for a moment lazy on the court. That's what we have in this guy.

He can't be a star right now. We need a star. It's not on Capela. If he can NET us a star in a package, fantastic. But we can't be ******** all over a guy who has achieved as much improvement through hard work as this guy has achieved, a guy who makes Harden more lethal, a guy who has shown flashes of being a really good defensive player at age 22. We shouldn't just ignore what we've seen from him because we want a star.

He is great PnR, good rebounding and good defense at $1-2m, age 22, and in games he has started we have been a 60-win calibre team, and it's not like we are loaded with great players. It's Harden and a bunch of role players, and he is one of those role players. That's a big deal. And if we're judging him on his interior D we can't ignore that he is protecting the pain with Anderson and Harden starting for this team. The best of the best interior defenders would struggle with that task. Give him this season. It's not like we're giving up on this season, we're going to win almost 60. He hasn't started in 82 games total his entire career. I think he has earned this chance, and I think he will surprise us. Young guys like Capela with a major responsibility on their shoulders are the first to suffer when practice time is gone (we've barely practiced in 2 months). He was injured. If you were watching, you saw that he was putting on IMPRESSIVE defensive performances against EXCELLENT C's prior to his injury.

We're good with Clint. I'm not down with underestimating him again. Every summer, every corner, every turn he embarrasses us with our predictions. I'm done underestimating the guy. I can't deny hard work and fast improving results. He has earned it.

 

Capela has been doing a great job IMO. Started the season well, got hit a semi serious injury, fought out of it like a champ, has continued to play well and grow/polish him self as a player.

I think Anderson(our bigs in general) along with laps in our perimeter defense is putting a lot on Capela's plate, and he has done the best he can. Would really help him and more importantly the team if we could get a better rebounding/defensive group of bigs around Capela, as well as replacing Brewer with a good perimeter defender.

 

It's all about how he continues to improve. He is on the right path and Daryl Morey gets HUGE kudos for drafting him. He is better than he has played lately.