Houston Rockets: 2017-18 player grades for Clint Capela
Final grade
In a year where the Houston Rockets managed to have high expectations coming into the season, Clint Capela’s spectacular campaign came by complete surprise. He showed the ability to take on increased minutes and average career-best numbers in nearly every single statistical category.
During the 2017-18 season, Capela’s offensive rebounding percentage increased from 12.5 percent to 13.5 percent, while his defensive rebounding percentages shot up from 24.5 percent to 30.8 percent. The raw rookie who received multiple assignment to play in the G League has risen from the ashes to become a candidate for the Most Improved Player award in just a four-year span.
Now, the Rockets will try to hold onto one of their most valuable pieces, as recent reports over the last month have indicated that Capela — a restricted free agent — will likely be granted a max-level offer by a team at the early onset of free agency, which Houston could seek to match.
"“We’ll have him here as long as he’ll have us,” Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said per ESPN ‘s Tim MacMahon when asked about Capela’s restricted free agency earlier this year. “The only way [to overcome the Warriors] is to develop near-elite two-way players. I think Clint is on the way.”"
Although the Rockets could seek to go in a different direction depending on his price tag, Capela proved to be the perfect fit alongside of Chris Paul and James Harden in Houston last season.
His ability to crash the glass, defend and finish lobs played a vital part in helping Clutch City earn the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference for the first time in franchise history, and almost helped them pull off what could have been the greatest basketball upset in years.
Capela’s value to the Rockets organization, combined with his all-around potential to blossom into the next great center, has never been as evident to the rest of the basketball world as it is now.
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Grade: A