Tag: Clint Capela

3 backup bigs that make sense for Thunder at trade deadline

3 backup bigs that make sense for Thunder at trade deadline.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will enter the Feb. 8 trade deadline as buyers for the first time in several years.

Sitting at 32-13 and in first place in the Western Conference standings, the Thunder hope to make a run at the playoffs for the first time since 2020.

The Thunder have broken open a contention window led by MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams round out one of the league’s best trios.

While OKC is not expected to make any blockbuster deals, expect it to possibly make minor upgrades to improve its depth.

The biggest weakness for the Thunder is their rebounding. OKC’s 47.7% rebounding rate and 41.2 rebounds per game both sit at 28th in the league. Outside of Holmgren, the Thunder doesn’t possess a traditional center.

This will likely be the top priority for Thunder general manager Sam Presti heading into the trade deadline. Adding a backup center with no long-term money committed could provide a boost to the roster.

The Thunder have plenty of draft capital and young prospects to facilitate any type of deal. Scouring through the league, let’s look at three bench big options OKC could add.

Report: Rockets could have trade interest in Atlanta’s Clint Capela

According to a new report, the Rockets are among four NBA teams identified as potential trade suitors for Hawks big man Clint Capela.

As the NBA’s Feb. 8 trade deadline nears, finding a backup center to play behind Alperen Sengun has been of interest for the Houston Rockets. Are talks picking up?

Brett Siegel, NBA insider and reporter for ClutchPoints, lists the Rockets among four teams with interest in veteran center Clint Capela. Now with the Atlanta Hawks, Capela played in Houston from October 2014 until the February 2020 trade deadline.

Siegel writes:

Frustrations stemming from their lack of success continue to mount in Atlanta, leaving the Hawks’ front office open to virtually all offers coming their way. For Capela, an influx of playoff-contending teams have already begun to show a level of interest, with the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Houston Rockets, and Sacramento Kings named as possible suitors for the veteran center, sources said.

While Capela has continued to remain an impactful frontcourt talent for the Hawks, fourth-year big man Onyeka Okongwu has continued to see his role increase since the start of the season. After Okongwu received a four-year, $62 million extension from the Hawks, Capela has become expendable to Atlanta. The team is interested in moving his contract in order to create a level of financial flexibility moving forward.

Capela is making $20.6 million in the 2023-24 season and will make $22.3 million in 2024-25, the last season of his current deal.

If finances are a major consideration, that could provide a clear path for general manager Rafael Stone and the Rockets.

By combining the expiring contracts of Victor Oladipo ($9.5 million) and Jock Landale ($8.0 million), Houston could meet the league’s salary matching rules for trades while slightly reducing Atlanta’s 2023-24 payroll and removing that salary slot altogether for 2024-25.

The question, of course, is whether the Rockets and Hawks could agree to terms on value compensation (likely in the form of draft equity) to be sent along with those expiring contracts.

Now 29 years old, Capela is averaging 11.3 points (57.3% FG) and 10.5 rebounds in 26.2 minutes per game this season.

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Boston’s Marcus Smart falls in redraft of NBA’s 2014 class

‘Marcus Smart truly is one of the best guard defenders in the NBA,’ writes HoopsHype.

The Boston Celtics would have taken a different player than veteran point guard Marcus Smart if the counterfactual past imagined by a redraft of the NBA’s 2014 class that was put together by Hoops Hype’s Frank Urbina and Raul Barrigon was non-fiction.

Had the draft order in this alternate reality remained the same, Boston would have taken forward Aaron Gordon with the sixth overall pick controlled by the Celtics. The Flower Mound native would have fallen to the seventh pick of the 2014 NBA draft.

“The reigning Defensive Player of the Year, even as questionable as that award might have been, Marcus Smart truly is one of the best guard defenders in the NBA,” writes Hoops Hype.

Hoops Hype notes Smart is “an absolute pest on that end of the floor” who “also provides some solid playmaking for the Celtics” as well.

Fairly, they note “his shooting is still very inconsistent,” though we think this is not as true as it used to be in terms of volume if not quality.

They have the Texan floor general ranked just ahead of Clint Capela, but at least for the Celtics, believe Smart made (and would make) more sense than a Gordon pickup would have been, with Smart the more impactful player.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Joel Embiid details how he broke up Hawks lob to lead Sixers to win

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid explains how he broke up the lob of the Atlanta Hawks to lead the team to a win.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers squeaked out a 104-101 win over the Atlanta Hawks at home on Monday as Joel Embiid returned to the lineup. The big fella had 30 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, but his biggest play was on the defensive end.

With the Sixers leading by one with 18.6 seconds left, the Hawks went to their bread and butter on the offensive end. They turned to Trae Young and Clint Capela running the pick-and-roll. They were hoping to get an easy lob out of it.

Young threw the lob to Capela, but Embiid was there for the steal that sealed a Sixers win.

“In that situation, from the start of the play, you could tell he thought we were going to trap him,” explained Embiid. “They were gonna try to set a screen for him to try to get me on him and we were guarding 1 through 5 anyway, so I would have to guard him straight up anyways, but the way I positioned myself, I acted like we were going to trap him and tried to take the ball out of his hands.”

Embiid then went into detail about how he baited Young to throw that pass. He played the lob a bit differently and that allowed Capela to get open, but then Embiid jumped the passing lane to make the play.

“As the best player on the team, you want the last shot and you want to be able to make the last plays to make sure that your team wins,” Embiid added. “In that situation, that’s why he ended up sending whoever I was guarding away and try to go one-on-one and I just tried to play a cat-and-mouse game where I had him thinking that he had a wide-open lob, while at the same time, I knew I was giving that space for a reason.”

Embiid is a student of the game who watches players around the league. On Monday, his basketball studies paid off.

“I watch a lot of games,” he explained. “He’s (Young) not selfish. He can make that type of play if someone is open so I was just trying to bait him and it did work and in some instances, it doesn’t work. It could have been a bad play or a bad read by me, but in that situation, it did work so I was happy.”

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Jazz, Hawks big men discuss having to defend Sixers star Joel Embiid

After being torched by Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid, the big men of the Utah Jazz and the Atlanta Hawks discuss having to defend him.

PHILADELPHIA–Philadelphia 76ers star big man Joel Embiid has a tendency of beating up on teams throughout the season. There is a reason why he is considered one of the best players in the game regardless of position out on the floor.

In Philadelphia’s weekend wins over the Atlanta Hawks and the Utah Jazz, Embiid victimized both teams. He had 42 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists against the Hawks and then had a game for the ages against the Jazz by going for a career-high 59 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, and he tied his career-high with seven blocks.

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The big men on both the Jazz and the Hawks discussed having to defend the big fella after the weekend:

Hawks’ Clint Capela explains what makes PJ Tucker so important to Sixers

Atlanta Hawks big man Clint Capela explains why PJ Tucker is so important to the Philadelphia 76ers.

PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers went out and made a move rather quickly in free agency when they brought in PJ Tucker at the outset of the period. The veteran is known for doing all of the little things and making hustle plays not seen in the box score to help a team win.

Tucker won a championship with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021 and he was one win away from heading back to the finals in 2022 with the Miami Heat. He also was deep in the playoffs plenty of times with the Houston Rockets so he has seen it all in the NBA.

Atlanta Hawks big man Clint Capela played with Tucker in Houston and he explained why Tucker is so important out on the floor for the Sixers.

“His energy,” said Capela. “He brings willingness every night. I feel like he’s always been the guy to talk to in the locker room during halftime and what we can do better. I feel like that’s the guy on the court that always sacrifices defensively, always ready to help, always ready to bring some energy, always ready to bring extra possessions, making corner 3s. He’s always making the right decision offensively.”

If one is judging Tucker on his averages of 5.2 points and 4.6 rebounds, then one would be disappointed. The veteran out of Texas is much more than that.

“Defensively, he was always ready to guard the best guy,” Capela added. “Just talks about the guys on the defensive end. He was tremendous for us in Houston.”

Fans won’t see the importance of Tucker based on stats, but if they really watch him and see how he helps the offense run as well as his communication on the defensive end, then the understanding of his importance comes into a clearer picture.

“It’s really important whenever your team is really trying to win, trying to go deep in those playoff runs,” Capela finished. “You want to be consistent in the season and your team wants to build that chemistry to be able to win 55 to 60-plus games in the season. That’s the guy to have. His value — he helped me so much in the process — that’s what he does.”

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Bruno Fernando thriving for Rockets with new contract, new energy

Bruno Fernando on landing a standard NBA contract with the Rockets: “I am excited about what is being built around here, and I felt like this would be the right spot for me.”

Toward the end of the 2021-22 NBA season, Houston Rockets head coach Stephen Silas decided to rest some of his veterans so he could genuinely evaluate some of the talent he had on his team.

We all know what guards Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. did to finish the season. Another player showed the coaching staff and general manager Rafael Stone that he could potentially be a piece of the rebuilding puzzle.

Third-year reserve center Bruno Fernando was ready when his name was called, especially when given a significant amount of playing time. Last season with the Rockets, Fernando averaged 15 points and 9.3 rebounds when he played 15 minutes or more.

By showcasing some of the skills that made him an early second-round selection by Atlanta in the 2019 NBA draft, he gave the Rockets an idea of how valuable he could be heading into the 2022-23 NBA season.

“I am a firm believer in taking full advantage of the opportunity,” Fernando said late last season after scoring a career-high 17 points to go along with 10 rebounds.

Fernando, a 24-year-old, 6-foot-10 big man, came to Houston via a February 2022 trade with the Boston Celtics that included Dennis Schroeder and Enes Freedom in exchange for Daniel Theis.

With an expiring contract, he knew it was imperative to showcase the skills and energy he could bring off the bench, especially with the Rockets investing their future in young center prospects such as Alperen Sengun and Usman Garuba. He did just that, doing whatever the team needed.

The Rockets showed the feelings were mutual by signing Fernando to a deal worth up to four years and $10.9 million after converting his previous Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way deal three days ago.

“To be honest with you, I wanted to be a part of this,” Fernando said after the Rockets’ first preseason game versus San Antonio. “I showed it from the time that I came here that I truly wanted to be a part of this. I am excited about what is being built around here, and I felt like this would be the right spot for me. So, I just continued to put in a lot of work and hoped that it would get me somewhere, and it did.”

In Sunday’s win over the Spurs, Fernando had 8 points and 3 rebounds off the bench, and the Rockets were a whopping plus-18 in his 11 minutes played. Fernando made all three of his shots from the field.

Looking back, Houston may have a former player to thank for how Fernando has integrated himself into the team’s developing culture.

Atlanta Hawks center Clint Capela, who spent his first six seasons patrolling the paint for Houston, offered some encouraging words to Fernando during the recently completed offseason.

“I learned from Clint that every time you go into a situation, look around and see what is missing, and then ask yourself if you can add that and bring that to the table,” Fernando said in the locker room.

In postgame comments, Rockets coach Stephen Silas elaborated on the intangibles that Fernando brings to the table.

“He is a rim threat when it comes to the roll, offensive rebounding, and he protects the rim,” Silas said. “He is a game changer for us because we have Al-P (Sengun) who is so skilled, but not quite as athletic, and Bruno can come in and be athletic by really rolling hard to the rim … and that opens it up for everybody.”

Houston will be back in action on Friday, when it hosts the Toronto Raptors at Toyota Center.

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Report: Marcus Smart nearly dealt to Houston Rockets in 2019 for Clint Capela

The potential ripple effects of this failed deal would have transformed the league at present — and was blown up by a player being taken one pick early.

The Boston Celtics are set to take the floor to battle the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of the 2022 NBA Finals, but if a trade that reportedly fell apart because of the order players were taken had actually gone down, the ripple effect would have removed at least one of the players on the Celtics’ roster right now.

That player would be veteran point guard Marcus Smart, who may have missed being a Houston Rocket when Brandon Clarke was drafted one player higher than the pick the Celtics used to draft Tennessee product Grant Williams at 22 instead. It’s possible that Williams might still have been around for Boston to pick up with the No. 33 pick had they found some other way to entice the Philadelphia 76ers or some other team in that range to part with a draft pick.

But it’s also very possible that neither Smart nor Grant — and with them, the Celtics — would have been in this NBA Finals had the deal gone through.

Report: Rockets nearly traded for Marcus Smart, Brandon Clarke in June 2019

A June 2019 trade agreement would have sent Clint Capela to Boston and Marcus Smart and Brandon Clarke to the Rockets, but Memphis scuttled it by drafting Clarke one spot ahead.

In 2019, then-general manager Daryl Morey said the Rockets had reached a trade agreement to acquire a first-round draft pick in the “early 20s,” but it was contingent on Houston drafting a certain player. The deal was scuttled when that player was drafted one pick earlier.

At the time, Morey did not specify the team involved or the intended target. But today, nearly three years later, we finally have confirmation courtesy of Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report. Fischer writes:

In 2019, when Jazz CEO of basketball operations Danny Ainge was still the president of basketball operations for the Boston Celtics, they held serious draft night trade discussions with the Houston Rockets about acquiring Clint Capela for Marcus Smart and the No. 22 pick, sources told B/R.

The agreed-in-principle deal ultimately fell short, but the Rockets were targeting Brandon Clarke before the Memphis Grizzlies swept in to steal the Gonzaga product at No. 21.

The deal makes financial sense, since Boston would have needed to send out a salaried veteran along with Clarke in order for the incoming salary of Capela to work under the collective bargaining agreement.

Capela then stayed with the Rockets as Houston’s starting center until a February 2020 trade sent him to Atlanta, with Robert Covington joining Houston and ushering in a brief “small ball” era. In the 2020 offseason, in what was ultimately the early stages of Houston’s current rebuild, Covington was traded to Portland for two future first-round picks.

In hindsight, it’s a fascinating hypothetical. Clarke has played well in a part-time role in Memphis over three NBA seasons, averaging 10.9 points (59.1% FG) and 5.6 rebounds in 21.9 minutes. At 6-foot-8, 215 pounds, Clarke was and is the type of athletic, undersized-but-versatile rim runner that perhaps would have made for a better frontcourt matchup than Capela versus Golden State and longtime nemesis Draymond Green.

Then again, in this hypothetical, the Rockets wouldn’t have had Covington, who shot a blistering 50.0% on 3-pointers during the 2020 Western Conference playoffs while averaging 2.5 steals per game.

Perhaps the more intriguing name in this trade is Marcus Smart, who is currently starting for the Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals.

If the Rockets had added Smart, long respected as a locker-room leader, could that have perhaps salvaged the relationship between James Harden and Chris Paul before the ill-fated trade of Paul (and four years of future draft considerations) for Russell Westbrook a month later?

Even if not, what does adding Smart and his tenacious defense do for the 2019-20 backcourt mix? That might have made the Harden/Westbrook group a better matchup versus the Los Angeles Lakers and particulaly veteran point guard Rajon Rondo, who torched Houston in the 2020 second-round series that ultimately ended the Harden era.

There’s also this obvious question, from the other side: Would Boston be in the NBA Finals today, if Smart weren’t on the roster?

We’ll never know, of course, but it’s fun to wonder about. Add this to a long line of “what if?” hypotheticals throughout Rockets history.

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Hawks season preview: Could Trae Young lead them to win the East?

The Atlanta Hawks have the main ingredient required for breakout success in the NBA and that’s a bona fide star on the rise: Trae Young.

The Atlanta Hawks have the main ingredient required for breakout success in the NBA and that’s a bona fide star on the rise: Trae Young.

Aside from Young, the Hawks are loaded with talent and now have the added confidence of defeating the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers in the postseason. However, do they have what it takes to get over the hump and actually make it to the NBA Finals?

Below, check out our preview for the 2021-22 Suns campaign.