After a postseason benching and career-low minutes, the veteran center claims he’s reclaimed his athleticism. Houston’s preseason opener in Macao will give him the chance to prove how impactful he can truly be.
Every team in the NBA had a slew of updates flooding the basketball world last week. We have Media Days and training camps across the league to thank for that. Unsurprisingly, there was both good and bad news from each organization, but the Houston Rockets were lucky to have a very positive week.
It was initially unfortunate to hear Steven Adams wouldn’t be ready to start the season, but it was a plus that Clint Capela was reportedly feeling much more athletic this year, as covered on Roundtable. Now, we’ve already got a complete reversal on the Steven Adams update, making it feel like everything is sunshine and rainbows in Houston.
Despite learning of this newfound front-court depth, I’m still wondering if Clint Capela is genuine when he says he’s feeling more athletic. Or more importantly, is the way he feels going to contribute to his play on the court? It will still be needed with Steven Adams being limited, as reported on Roundtable.
Last year we saw Capela get played off the court in the postseason, with Ime Udoka opting to go with Jae’Sean Tate and Jeff Green instead. His minutes went down in each subsequent game, with him not playing at all in Game 4 and Game 5.
His last time in an NBA game was for two minutes and seven seconds of garbage time in a blowout elimination game. Anyone should be able to understand if that left a bad taste in his mouth.
With the Rockets traveling to Macao, China for their first two preseason games, this is his first chance to live up to his words and impress us all. Don’t expect him to start, since teams tend to give international fans a show. The stars will be out, particularly in the first half of each game.
It would be really nice to see him get some significant backup minutes, though. The Dallas Mavericks have a solid front-court, but with Dereck Lively II still sidelined, they’re not as deep as they could be. If Clint is really jumping higher, I’d love to see some more dunks and blocked shots.
I know it just comes with age, but it hurts seeing him blow layups under the rim when he used to throw those down with authority. If we can get any semblance of that next week, it gives me confidence he can hold down the fort with Steven Adams out.
If not, it might be time to look for a replacement sooner rather than later. Last season, his minutes were nearly cut in half from the year prior. 12.3 minutes a night was the lowest since his rookie season over a decade ago, per Basketball-Reference. Things have not been trending in the right direction, so a bounce-back is needed.
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