It came as a bit of a surprise in free agency when the Rockets, with Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams on multiyear deals in the middle, made a deal to reacquire Clint Capela, who spent the first six years of his NBA career in Houston. But with the Rockets leaning into bigger lineups, they valued the opportunity to bring back Capela, and he reciprocated their interest, suggesting that he had unfinished business in Houston.
“I feel like when I left (Houston in a 2020 trade), it was something that wasn’t done,” Capela said, according to Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required). “What I’ve missed the most is the fans, the support that I feel about the city. Whenever I left, that’s when I realized how special it was to represent this team in the city and be able to be, really, a real contender. I really missed that, and that’s why I feel that it’s so special to be here with this team.”
After experimenting last season by playing Sengun and Adams alongside one another, head coach Ime Udoka views Capela as a player he can use either as the lone big man in a five-man unit or next to Sengun in a jumbo frontcourt.
“(Capela) is a different player as far as rim protection, lob threat,” Udoka said. “Even probably out of those three (centers), he might switch and move his feet the best. Alpi’s good as well, but all those things. And then, like I said, with Alpi’s versatility, he could play with either of them. Alpi seems to be more aggressive when he has another big guy behind him.”
We have more on the Rockets:
- The Rockets opened their preseason schedule on Monday with a 122-113 victory over Atlanta. Lerner and William Guillory of The Athletic share the key takeaways from that game, including Jabari Smith Jr. looking comfortable in his return to the starting lineup and Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard sharing ball-handling duties evenly when they were on the court together.
- While Thompson and Sheppard figure to be Houston’s primary ball-handlers with Fred VanVleet out due to a torn ACL, two-way player JD Davison did his best on Monday to show he deserves consideration for rotation minutes, as Brian Robb of MassLive.com writes. Davison had 17 points and four assists in 22 minutes of action, with five made three-pointers. “He’s been great,” Udoka said of the former Celtic. “Very aggressive, handles well, makes good decisions out of the pick and roll. He’s a big body who can pick up full court, so he brings aggression on both sides of the ball. He’s taken advantage of the opportunity.”
- An ESPN panel explores the impact that VanVleet’s injury will have on the Rockets this season, with Kevin Pelton outlining why Houston might actually miss the veteran point guard more on the defensive end of the court, while Bobby Marks explains why the team isn’t in a great position at the moment to trade for or sign a replacement point guard.
Not a fan of the KD trade, and losing VanVleet is a big loss especially without an experienced floor general. But Ime is a top 2 coach in the league, let’s see what he can do
Houston messed up
You can’t compete in the loaded West without a real PG, no matter how talented you are. Something’s gotta give. This wild-ass prediction is as good as any:
In January, after disappointing start, Rockets conclude they can’t go on without an experienced PG that can defend.
Rockets then trade Reed Sheppard and Josk Okogie to Sacramento, who are 15 games under .500, for Dennis Schroeder and 2 second round draft picks.
Rockets improve, and finish 3rd in the West. Schroeder stays to back up FVV in 2026-27. Rockets win Chip in 2026-26.
Rockets not trading Sheppard or Eason for a PG. They have time to sort this out. Eventually will have to trade for one. Best way will be to use FVV contract to do it.
Davison completely outplayed Sheppard AND Amen both in scoring and passing 17 pts on 6-9/5-7 with 3 reb 4 ast and 1 TO..
Sheppard had 7 pts on 2-6/1-4 3 reb 1 ast and 3 TOs and Amen 11 pts on 4-9/1-2 2 reb 3 ast 4 TOs.
Ime claiming 6’1″ Davison has a “big body” was odd, but I suppose compared to Reed it kinda makes sense. He’s probably going to end up starting.
Yeah 1st preseason game. By all means he is their savior. Amen is a future star. Sheppard also has the potential to be a star. Both of them imo aren’t PGs. Davidson has as much chance making this team as you do. But please tell us all about his game.
The 53rd pick in 2022 draft. Who hasn’t played meaningful mins in NBA yet ….
Sheppard is too short to be anything but a PG, and he looked as bad in summer league as he did in this game. Amen will be a star, but I agree he’s a SF they’re trying to convert due only to FVV’s being out.
So that leaves Davison, if he can shoot like that in the rest of the preseason Ime will start him.
“You can’t compete in the loaded West without a real PG, no matter how talented you are.”
OKC won the whole thing without a PG. The closest thing they had to that they traded away for Caruso, and others were green and injured. And they didn’t miss one.
But not everyone can be like OKC, of course.
Thunder use an offense that doesn’t need a traditional PG. More teams are moving in that direction. You have the players and talent to do it. That’s where Kerr learned his offense. Bulls triangle didn’t use a traditional PG either. Thunder have players that share the ball. Nuggets also don’t use a traditional PG in their offense. More about playmakers. It’s why Jokic has ast as a center …
Wilt Chamberlain was told all he can was score cause he was selfish. So in 1967-68 season he led the NBA in assists 8.6 per gm….. lol
Just to remind everyone he avg 24.3 points, and led NBA with 23.8 reb per gm.
The guard that led OKC with 6.4 apg (SGA) isn’t a PG?
Most would disagree, he’s a scoring PG.
Back-court players who get assists are not necessarily PGs. Hart averaged 6 assists for NY. I wouldn’t call SGA a PG. In any case, he’s not a playmaking guard who organizes his team. He’s a very good back-court player who gets to have a ball a lot, and very good players see and make passes.
Many teams will be looking at what OKC did, thinking they don’t need a player like CP3 or Schroder. There’s a reason several players people consider to still be quite good didn’t get a contract – Brogdon, Westbrook. Reggie Jackson is completely forgotten, even though he played 22 mins/night in 82 games for Denver in 23-24.
Title-winning Boston, Denver, GSW teams didn’t revolve around a traditional high-usage, table-setting, assist-farming PG. There are voices in Atlanta saying they’re getting tired of Trae Young’s oversized impact, and would rather see the ball-handling shared by Johnson, Daniels, Krejci and others and do the positionless thing.
How many ball-handlers did Brooklyn draft?
SGA like Curry are combo guards . More SG cause tgeir teams need them to score. Their teams offense doesn’t need a real PG. Neitger of them run an offense. The offense runs itselg. They don’t manage games as a PG. SGA does it thru his scoring. Curyy never handles the ball as much unless its off tge offense. SGA does basically what MJ did on Bulls. A real PG manages the game. He is like a coach on the floor. Offenses are more geared to moving ball for a shot. Or it ending up with your scorers or shooters.
Rockets can’t compete for West. Unless they get a PG. At some point they will have to get one. Either go for big names like Murray, Jrue. Or can go for lesser names or younger ones like Schroder and McBride.
The KD window is right now. FVV has a two year contract. So is a valuable trade chip to save money for a team. Both Murray, Jrue. Have three yrs left on their deals.