Rockets center Clint Capela is the hot ticket item on the trade block. Houston is aggressively shopping Capela in order to secure themselves another high functioning wing player. Why would Houston do this? Well, it’s not hard to figure out. Houston is better without Clint Capela. It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out.
It goes beyond just those numbers. There is no denying the efficiency numbers, however. Houston is better offensively and defensively without Capela. When you watch the Rockets play, they just look better without him. During the game against New Orleans on Super Bowl Sunday, the Pelicans outrebounded the Rockets by 24 and lost. It didn’t matter. Houston just functions better without a center and it spreads the floor.
If you can’t shoot a 3, you’re not valuable to Houston. They are maybe even too reliant on the 3-ball. Capela can’t shoot and he clogs the lane. He doesn’t fit the system. Either did Dwight Howard and Houston was never worse than they were with Dwight.
Swapping out Capela for another wing is worth the gamble. You can never have enough wings. Kevin O’Connor dropped a piece on The Ringer explaining that a 3-way deal could be in the works. Something along the lines of sending Clint Capela to Atlanta, Robert Covington to Houston, and the Warriors somehow ending up with D’Angelo Russell. Somehow John Collins is in the mix too. I did my best to figure out this jumbled mess.
Then somehow draft picks would be involved and the Timberwolves would land Russell. I’m too tired to figure this out. Especially when O’Connor suggests it needs to be a 4-teamer to go through.
The point is, this is something Houston needs to explore. They can play Tyson Chandler at the 5 when they need to. A starting 5 of Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Danuel House, Robert Covington, and PJ Tucker sounds good on paper. Better than the Capela version. Will it be enough to compete for a championship? HAHAHAHA, no the Rockets are screwed, they have Russell Westbrook on their team so none of this matters anyway.