Houston Rockets: 5 goals for Clint Capela in 2017-18

3. Improve free throw shooting

To Capela’s credit, he has improved his free throw shooting each season in the league. After starting off his NBA career shooting 17.4 percent from the free throw line, Capela finished last season at 53.1 percent.

Even more impressive, Capela’s shooting from the charity stripe improved steadily throughout the course of the season, going from 40 percent in December to 61 percent in March. In the playoffs he was able to maintain that shooting, hitting 61.5 percent of his free throws.

If Capela can develop into a consistently decent free throw shooter and hit over 60 percent from the line, his scoring numbers will go up and won’t be a threat for Hack-a-Capela (which already steadily declined last season).

Rockets coach John Lucas is almost always seen working with Capela on his free throws before games, and Capela’s shooting form has improved gradually over time with practice and adjustments.

Capela’s free throw shooting becomes more important when games in the playoffs become more physical, which can result in more trips to the foul line. In the 2017 playoffs, Capela averaged 3.5 free throw attempts per game, compared to the 2.7 attempts he shot per game in the regular season.

By continuing to improve his free throw shooting, Capela will help both himself and the team. His scoring numbers will go up and he will no longer be a liability at the charity stripe.