Clint Capela?

D-Mo surely is starting to look like he is closer to being who he is going to be the rest of his career than what everyone had hoped he could be. Which isn't really the news anyone wants but it is what it is. Nenad Kristic sort of comes to mind as to a fair comparison to shoot for at this point.

I still think he's been able to improve enough defensively to where he's still going to be in the league for quite awhile and he might have a late growth in his offensive game late in his career. I don't really expect much other than what he gave last night which is to defend without fouling, make the right pass, take up space, and run the floor.

Its ok that you are not interested in Capela. You and obviously many others here are only focused on the here and now. Understandable. The Rockets obviously still want to take shots at high level young talent in the background. Its just a difference in philosophy I guess.

Me personally, I don't mind one or two projects at a time, but I realize how valuable roster spots are nowadays. I'm honestly much more upset with the lack of production from Dorsey and Garcia's roster spot than Johnson and Capela's. I hope they can do much better than Dorsey in the near future, but I guess your options aren't endless with veteran minimum deals.

 

capela needs to get some reps in the dleague... looked super sloppy last night. obv he's never played a min of meaningful nba basketball, but he should play in the dleague to develop his game. really pissed that he didnt just stay in europe... jeff adrian should really be on this team

 

Capela was basically terrible but I do believe there is enough physical skill there to develop. Deal him if you get decent value but it isn't bad to stock the farm.

 

He looks a year away from contributing but the physical gifts are there for sure. It would be nice to see him split time between RGV and some garbage minutes with the mother ship.

 

Based on that 1 game, Capela looks like a poor man's Malick Badiane

 

I am not saying I do not look forward to the future. As you and I talked before you said Tariq Black has clearly outplayed Adrien.

Well he did well and Adrien did ok. What really matters now that Dwight is about to be in his 30s and we do not want to waste any more of his years by drafting raw players.
Especially half Euro players that have little experience in other leagues.

You can draft 23, 24 yr old junior or senior players out of college, seek out Patrick Beverley, Kostas. Players that are young enough and already experienced.

I am actually looking forward to Black and Capela but in what? 3-4 years.

Big players take a lot longer to develop (Jordan Hill who is now only average, Patterson is only slightly above average) and some (Thabeet) never do.

I do not think Dwight Howard will be very pleased to hear about contending in 2-5 years and unless Capela is becoming the next Dwight (I do not think he has elite athleticism)

I won't be all too invested talking about him. I also did not criticize him harshly as others did.

 

With how raw he looked, I think he needs the full year down in Rio Grande. No big show action for him.

 

He need 2 years D.league.
+
2 year backing the back up player
+
2 year private lesson from Hakeem
+
2 year private lesson from Dwight "assuming he retired by that time"
And bingo. We got our asset at PF/C ready for trade

 

we dont need projects
we are in win now mode

 

Spurs are in win now mode too, they have been for over a decade cause they find one or two roster spots for prospects.

 

The question isn't whether the Rockets need help today. Of course they do. The question is how likely is a player taken at #25 going to help you relative to a fairly replacement level player. So suppose the Rockets took Shabazz Napier. Is he better than Isaiah Canaan? Now what if the Rockets took Kyle Anderson? Would he be an upgrade on even Troy Daniels?

I don't disagree that the Rockets are looking at the present. But the marginal improvement a 25th pick would have over the likes of Canaan, Daniels, Black, Terry is minimal if at all. If you want to gain present value for a draft pick, the best way to do so is to trade that pick. Who would have more value? A Shabazz Napier, undersized PG, or a young athletic big with some comps to Ibaka?

 

I am definitely not a hope some random project turns into an all star guy ... And yes he looked raw, but I think a bit too much negativity here. Yes he should get some PT in the d-league...

But having just watched the last six minutes and focusing on him, he did seem to be pretty solid athletically. He ran the floor really well for a guy with his length. He seemed to be in the right spot defensively. He didn't score but went to the foul line twice, 4 attempts, in his six minutes. His first touch was actually absolute baseline spin which he ruined with a horrible pass. 3 boards in 6 minutes projects out nicely.

This is a 25th pick 20 year old. If he had a polished offensive game he would have been picked sooner.

But he does need to work on getting the ball to go through that hoop. Free throw form wasn't looking great. Tons of other things to work at too obviously.

 

this prospect will require more time than those spurs prospects
he is raw
like bloody steak raw lol

 

dmo needs to slow down with his offensive moves..

he has all the footwork and ability he just hasnt been able to put it together...

 

2 yeras from being 2 years away

 

he puts it together in preseason where it doesnt count. ha ha

 

Kenneth Faried was an example of a late first rounder who could rebound from the start.

Someone who had a skill ready to impact game from Day 1.

Faried was covered but was not the focus of attention during the draft so yeah.

 

I didn't feel like starting a new thread but doesn't Dwight's game remind you a little of OT's game, at least on offensive. Obviously Dwigyts the better defender but they're similar in many ways.

Didn't watch Capela play, but let's give him some time before we anoint him a bust.