You mean we're into the third summer working with this kid and nobody knows what he can be? See, I don't buy that. This is the third summer plus two regular seasons we've been working with him. This is the NBA. Not kindergarden. If we don't have any idea what Clint can become after this amount of time then there is something wrong with this organization and the way we have been developing players. One again the overwhelming majority of DeAndre's contributions are on the defensive end That's not quantified in the box score. Just matching deandre in lob dunks and shooting free throws at an abysmal clip like deandre isn't how you judge his development. Whiteside is the extreme exception in developmental curve. Not the norm. DeAndre was a defense difference maker early. Both DeAndre and Whiteside are Capela length and size plus 3 to 4 inches. Biyombo is another version of Asik. Just an average center. We're talking about an averaged sized starting center in today's NBA. He'll be out weighed, out muscled, and out lengthened around half the time he's out there. So with that in mind he needs to bring an outstanding skill to the table, either defense, or rebounding, or shooting, to be a difference maker. Below were my thoughts regarding Capela written we drafted him. I wanted to see us develop his shooting stroke rather than try to bulk him up. Because I felt that him being able to shoot would mean more to his on court effectiveness than any other skill. Instead we've been running pick and rolls with him for 2 years and he's a liability at the free throw line. This could have been fixed by now with proper coaching and a daily shooting regimen. And Capela would look more like a versatile offensive big that would fit into an Amare role for us. As it is now we're looking to develop him as another power big in a league with plenty of guys with equal or greater athleticism and size than he has. I think we've botched his development. I watched this happen with Terrence. We should have been fixing his jumper from day 1 but we didn't and finally in his third season we try to bulk him up and make a power guy out of him. Just a total waste. KJ is another example. Supposedly been working on his jumper for a couple years now. No results. We didn't even have a shooting coach up until a couple weeks ago. So personally, I don't buy the excuses that we don't know what he's going to become and it takes time. We've got to see something from year to year. I don't care what their age is. Capela came back last year with no improvement anywhere in his game. If anything he regressed. Same crappy shooter, crappy free throw shooter, same rebounder and defender, maybe worse, same thin frame, everything the same. No new skills. No improved skills. No improvement throughout the season. Hey we can blame it on everybody else, blame McHale, Bickerstaff, Dwight, and the beer vendor. Bottom line, he didn't improve one ounce. Whoevers fault if is, here we are, third season, huge question marks, crossing our fingers and hoping, like we're back at the draft lottery with #14 odds, that Capela breaks out. I hope he does break out. But all the optimism is ridiculous. At this stage going into his third season, with the lack of development last season, at best it's a crap shoot.
Capela won't be outlengthed by the majorority of nba centers, Capela has good length, hops and athletecism. He's also a great rebounder, finishes at the rim at a solid %, good peremiter and pick n roll defender, good shot blocket. His lack of weight is a problem, but not as large as many think. Again in todays nba, a lot of teams are going away from posting up which minimizes Clints weakness to an extent. He won't be facing Al Jefferson, Gasol's and Cousins everynight. Howard outpowered most nba center by a good amount but he didn't hurt teams on offense because of his inability to post up, point is Capela's length and athletecism will go a long ways on the defensive end.
Is there another 5 who is available that's better and as young as Capella that we could get without trading too much talent (not that we have many assets outside James)? And is on very team friendly contract? I mean Biyombo got 70M and Mozgov got 64M. Crickets...
Gotta give it up for Mopar, he was right about Jones. I thought he at least had the physical tools to be a rotational player for someone. Those injuries must've really slowed him down. I guess nothing changes the fact that he can't play defense nor shoot. Disagree about trading away Capella now though.
The fact is unless something drastic happens withe injuries, the Warriors are going to easily win the West this year. Next year? They may lose even more depth with the lower cap figure next year so there is at least a decent chance the Warriors are only going to get worse in following years and that's what your trying to do - prepare to have the best team you can field in 2-4 years. To me, that says teams like Houston(with stars soon entering their prime - teams who want to contend soon) should spend this year growing talent who can help you win next year or the year after - no sense in giving that aging vet a lot of run when a young guy needs to be developed. That's why we didn't want Dwight back. As it pertains to how the Rocket's approach Capella's situation, he's still a bit of an unknown quantity after really only one full year in the league - the year before he didn't get a lot of run except in D-league or when injuries forced him into play in the playoffs. He does have the potential to be a decent Center in the modern league and he's still young, and on a cheap contract. This will be his first meaningful experience as a starting NBA Center so we will know A LOT more at the end of the year about his future ceiling. I'll disagree with the popular consensus here that he needs a jump shot to be a starting center. So if your going to take some risks and hope they pan out, this is the year to do it because frankly you don't have a chance this year or next playing it safe unless those risks pan out. So the question is does Capella's potential ceiling outweigh his trade value. Only Morey knows what the market looks like for Capella's potential right now but I can't imagine the Rockets get anything more than a mid first round pick for him at very best or more likely a player of similar untapped potential or a late 1st/early 2nd rounder. As mentioned earlier - trading him for the solid vet, doesn't move the needle enough to make it a worthwhile strategy. So that means, his value traded for a vet is not worth it, his value traded for a future pick is not worth it(because Harden is in his prime now/soon - can't wait to develop a mid 1st rounder-early 2nd rounder), and the only other acquisition to replace Clint is probably going to be a similarly raw player - trading one potential for another. The only other scenario not mentioned is trading Clint to fill another positional need(wing defender?) and then acquiring a new center via FA or trade of some other team asset....
With Jahlil Okafor of Philadelphia available, I'd consider trading Ariza and Dekker for Okafor and some trash player we could dump. Philly has no real wings and we have too many. We have no real center, and they have too many. Thus, this works for both teams. Shift Capela to PF and rotate D-Mo Montrezl in the center and PF slots until D-Mo returns to full health.
It's still not fluid...in real game time, especially when fatigue kicks in, his 15 footer won't be there for him. I can tell by his form that he just needs to stay in the paint
Why would you teach these kids to shoot before they learn to stay on the court? He most certainly improved one ounce, it really isn't debatable that he is better than his first season.
In your scenario we'd go from having "too many wings" to having only Corey Brewer. I'd dispute your premise to begin with honestly as Ariza is the only "wing" that projects to average or above average.
HAHA... What a coincidence. I personally lover Pablo... never turns the ball over, makes the correct play...
