In an ideal world, he would have spent another year or two in Europe getting the basics down and developing some semblance of an offensive game. On the flip side, playing in our system he gets guaranteed playing time, access to our strength and conditioning coaches (already made a big difference), introduction to our offense, and however much individual instruction the Rockets think he needs. The biggest thing I've taken away from Capela is that he demonstrated very fast acclimation after not playing very much high-level amateur ball. He's definitely not NBA ready but he's improving quickly. He's a nice lottery ticket.
Now this is a guy who looks like he can learn from Dream. If he can develop a consistent jump shot like that and hit free throws, he has the potential to develop into a truly "special" player.
You gotta be very exited for this dude I can't wait to see him next year get some real minutes. Its D league but he looks like a young Ibaka. Runs the floor well, got a sweet release, blocks everything and anything. A bit more polishing and mass and we have a potential star in our hands
his brain seems a half step slower than the play but with his athleticism he's able to recover and make a play. that won't work in the nba but i'm hoping minutes can get his brain to read/react quicker. also he looks stiff when moving laterally which doesn't make a whole lot of sense since he's a great athlete. a decent face up and drive big would eat his lunch right now. unless he's intentionally letting them get by to go for the block, idk. overall though an exciting prospect, the potential is there.
It wouldn't be a stretch that other GM's are looking at him now and are also intrigued on what he can look like 3 yrs from now. With his salary, he can be an important trade piece for a big trade.
When he originally forced his way over here I thought he was too young and raw to even succeed in the D League. From what he has put together so far, I'm glad we brought him over. Though it is the D League, he honestly plays like we all want Dwight to play: run the floor, make smart moves on defense, rebound. Another plus is that GMs now can get a good look at this guy as opposed to grainy European competition.
lol people are hard to please and sick of the "oh but it is only D League" to put up the numbers he is at a low minute rate is awesome and he is developing nicely
I wouldnt trade him. Not with the way Dwight is coasting. He could be an important piece in a year or two if Dwight continues to play bad.
His shooting form is very nice! He makes free throws also. He is not going anywhere unless it lands us a MAJOR piece. He fits perfectly into what the Rockets want to do. I'm sure when Cappella dropped to the rockets at that spot in the draft they wet themselves. Dude has lottery potential.
Seeing that jumper is so exciting. Someone needs to preserve all the "trade him for a second rounder" or even the "cut him, he's not helping" in the old Tarik Black threads.
As many have said. Capela often looks like a man playing with boys with those D-Leaguers. I wonder exactly how good is the D League? For instance would an average D League team beat a top 10 college team? I would think so or certainly give them a good game. Almost all of the players were much better than average college players and are a couple of years older. It is also said that rebounding and I think also shot blocking are two of the skills that have the highest transfer rate from college to the NBA. I am sure the Rockets have a much better idea of what he can do in the NBA than we do. It wouldn't take too many practices with the Rockets to know whether he can at any time soon rebound, block shots and defend NBA big men. Anybody know how Capela looked in Rocket scrimmages?
They have a NBA projection that converts D League stats to NBA numbers http://stats.nbadleague.com/playerProjections.html?PlayerID=203991 It comes to 14 Pts, 12 Rebs, 3 Blk for Capela.
I think this kid is gonna be a really special player. Unfortunately I don't think it will be for us. The rate at which he is developing is a really good sign, and other teams are seeing this, and thinking if Morey picks up the phone they are gonna want Capella thrown into the deal. This won't seem like a big deal when it happens, but when he gets a shot at the NBA level, and gets some time under his belt (like D-Mo has) I believe we will regret losing this guy.
The Rockets are in a win now mode. This kid's timing is still way off in terms being able to help the Rockets. He will be packaged in a trade to help attain that playmaker or additional defensive big.
And I'm not sayin' this stuff because I don't like him or think he doesn't have potential. It's just that everything he's doing now is against D-League competition. It would take a tremendous amount of time for him to get adjusted to the NBA level with actual playing. DMo is right there so he's in the ready to contribute club come PlayOff time. Could take Capella as long as another 2 full seasons. You put in Capella now and he would be a turnover machine with horrid outlet passes or have the ball snatched out of his hands and all of that improves with actually NBA playing experience.
I admit that this is the first time, that I got excited by Clint. It was great to see him running the floor hard and with speed, something that has been lacking before. He showed some skill too. I liked the pick and roll, mid range jumper and the improvement in his free throw form. He looked like an NBA player out there. Keep it up and work hard. Your time will come.
