I think at this point Capela is wasting a very valuable roster spot. He may do well given time, but he seems to be at least 2 years away from being a contributor. He's so raw.
I think he can be a contributor now if necessary. All he has to do is play defense and set picks on offense.
Capella's best case scenario appears to be a poor man's Thomas Robinson in 2-4 years. When they eventually cut/trade him, you will likely never see him playing regular minutes on an NBA roster. He is not one of those players who will come back to "haunt" us. On the other hand, guys like Nick Johnson and Isiah Canaan do have the ability to come back and "haunt" us. They may turn up as duds as well, but much less of a chance and I am sure that Morey is aware of this and will make the proper move with minimal downside risk.
I think you are completely wrong. Capella has insane measurables and athleticism, Johnson can jump. NJ has bad form on his shot and is small, his peak and floor are both far under Capella. Zero chance he could be haunting, slim chance he's ever more than serviceable backup, and chances he's even that are against him. Capella can contribute on D early, and if he never develops an O, he will still be serviceable at minimum. Guards are dime a dozen, bigs are home runs or singles. Canaan can contribute now, and tho he will never be a starting 1, him not being on the team might hurt, as he was developing quickly. He certainly won't haunt us if gone.
I don't know how you can say this for sure. The dude's so raw, but his athleticism is pretty obvious, and his shot blocking timing shows promise. I can see GMs imagining he'd turn out to be an elite defensive player like Mutombo four years down the road, though personally I would say it's a long shot. I'm not sure if Morey thinks Capela is truly special, or he's hoping to deal him to a GM who does. Regardless, I think Capela has slightly a better chance of "haunting" the team for trading him than does Johnson and Canaan, whose ceilings I think are becoming solid role players.
The fact that you consider Capella's "best case scenario" is Thomas Robinson shows you're comical lack of knowledge, and makes it impossible to take anything you say seriously. Not that I think he will amount to it, but he has the potential to be an elite shot blocker and rebounder.
Capela really just reminds me of Thabeet,but with more hunger for basketball knowledge,still since we are in Win Now mode, I would rather trade him for a late first rounder or early 2nd rounder. I just see him as role playing big.
Clint Capela's ceiling is whatever he wants it to be in all reality. He'e so raw, but also young enough and has enough God given gifts and talent that he could eventually be one of the top ten 10 men in the league. I liken his pick to that of a highschool pitcher with a 99mph fastball in the MLB draft. He has something that all teams covet, but he's so far away from being a finished product. You can't say for sure that tool will ever turn into a usable skill in a game situation at the highest level, but the fact that he has the tool makes him too hard to write off. You can't teach his combination of height, length, and athleticism, let alone his timing blocking shots. The rest are frankly; teachable skills that can be developed over time. His polish will depend on how well he is at taking it all in, which remains to be seen.
He reminds me of Jermaine O'Neal during his rookie season. Jermaine came into a similar situation with the Blazers. Championship contenders with a loaded front court. The Blazers eventually grew tired of waiting on him as they needed immediate help and traded him to the Pacers where the front court wasn't as deep and he made an immediate impact. I can see us moving him to make room for a guy who can contribute now, but I doubt he is just given away.
Capela has way too much potential to just be given away like that, maybe there's just a little chance of him becoming amazing but you need to be "sure" first by letting him stay a couple of years rather than trading him away for peanuts and then regretting it later. The Rockets are more than just any player, they are an organization that will need to be competitive even if the current players get old. The Spurs understand this, which is why they don't trade their young up-and-comers to go all in just to maximize Tim Duncan's window. Ironically, this has actually allowed them to field a competitive year after year even when TD has declined, just imagine what would've happened if the Spurs had offered Parker and Manu+picks as a package to get Jason Kidd years ago and go all in? Likely the Spurs would've had to blow their team up once TD and JKidd got old and it would've been the end of the Spurs dynasty instead of now where they are still relevant and competitive with Tony Parker, Splitter and Kawhi Leonard carrying a heavy load. By the same token, we don't know what the future will hold, maybe JSmith plays so well he gets offered the max next season. Or maybe Dwight gets injured again. Or maybe both. In cases like these it's better to have someone waiting on the wings to take a larger load then trade these guys for spare parts just so we can keep instant impact but lower ceiling guys like Black on the team, no disrespect to Black of course who is a total baller and always comes in with a lot of energy and effort.
Stash Capela in the D league. Let him work on his game. if a trade comes up that will help the rockets, do it. but lets see what happens with his game. 2.7 blocks in 15 minutes is nothing to sneeze at.... That is very promising potential.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>. <a href="https://twitter.com/CapelaClint">@CapelaClint</a> back w/ <a href="https://twitter.com/RGVVipers">@RGVVipers</a> tonight w/ 19 pts (7-11 FG, 5-5 FT), 8 rebs, 4 blocks, 2 steals, 4 turnovers. Played 19:15. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rockets?src=hash">#Rockets</a></p>— Adam Wexler (@awexler) <a href="https://twitter.com/awexler/status/549031997876617216">December 28, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/3dio_WE1y50" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I think more than a HS pitcher, as they can generally become relievers if they throw high 90s entering the draft, Capella's more like a high school position player with ungodly speed/size/strength but can't hit a lick. The guy who has the upside of an all-star and the downside of a guy who never gets out of A-ball. Raw big men are just so unlikely to hit in general, but when they do they're absolute gold. I think he was picked at more or less the right place in the draft. Higher picks may be too risky. But there's too much potential to drop lower. I wouldn't trade him for anything less than late 1st value myself. But I think he can definitely be packaged in a Dragic deal. Makes some sense to the Suns who can use another lottery pick for their front court.
