Storyline 3: Clint Capela’s feasibility
Before the headline readers bark, I want to make it clear that Cline Capela is a very valuable player. Among bigs he’s one of the best.
The problem is that he’s very limited in specific matchups. The Golden State Warriors made an effort to play him off the floor in last year’s series, forcing the team to go to P.J. Tucker at the 5 much sooner than desired.
Now that it’s been proven what styles can best make the Capela’s life a living hell, it begs the question of who will try to emulate that strategy. Using Tucker at the 5 too early could burn him out for the games where they actually need him to do it.
The revival of supersized lineups may play to Capela’s strengths a bit better. The Warriors went small and had three of the best shooters ever to play, so it may be that strategy is unable to be duplicated. But some teams have the ability to play that way, such as the LA Clippers, who have arguably the most malleable rotation in the league.
Not many teams can expose Capela like the Warriors did, but those who do will make things quite complicated for a team with championship aspirations.
Capela is arguably a top-60 player, but his usefulness at the highest levels is minimal. For a team paying its two best players nearly $77 million this season, using another $14 million on a guy who might get played off the floor is not great.