Houston Rockets: 3 reasons to re-sign Clint Capela

HOUSTON, TX - MAY 28: Clint Capela #15 of the Houston Rockets looks on during the national anthem prior to the game against the Golden State Warriors in Game Seven of the Western Conference Finals during the 2018 NBA Playoffs on May 28, 2018 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images) /

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Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images /

3. Acquiring LeBron James just got tricky

In case you haven’t heard, Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James will hit the free agent market this summer. There is a good chance that teams will wait until James makes his decision to proceed with other offseason decisions, as it is likely that wherever he decides to go will become the team to beat throughout the league.

Houston Rockets fans received some bad news on Friday in the form of LeBron James informing the Cavaliers that he will be opting out of his contract and becoming an unrestricted free agent. The Rockets do not have enough cap flexibility to create enough space to sign James outright, so their only real chance of signing the world’s best player is by sign-and-trade.

This news could result in Houston turning its attention to keeping their current core together and paying Capela to stay with the team. The Los Angeles Lakers currently seem like the favorites to land James’s services, so they’ll want to retain all the firepower they possibly can if they want to continue to compete in the Western Conference.

Even though re-signing Capela through restricted free agency could be considered Houston’s backup plan for signing LeBron James, they should be happy to “settle” for retaining a talented center that can match up with any opposing big man on any given night.

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