Why Trading Clint Capela was a Terrible for James Harden and the Houston Rockets

According to SB Nation, in 2013 NBA General Managers were paid between $1 million and $3 million. GMs run the organisation of the team. They are responsible for player contract negotiations, signing new players and keeping the trading for new ones. They control a huge amount of a franchise’s future. A good GM can make you a title-contender for a decade. A bad GM can crumble your entire franchise.

Daryl Morey, the GM of the Houston Rockets, is looking set to do the latter for Houston.

One of the craziest trades in recent memory has just occured, and it makes absolutely no sense. The Rockets sent Clint Capela to the Atlanta Hawks in a 4-team agreement that brought Robert Covington to Houston.

Robert Covington is a solid 2-way NBA wing player. He was averaging 12.8 points and 6.0 rebounds along with 1.7 steals for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He can shoot the 3 and is a great defender. He would have been a good addition for a team that needed some more help defending the perimeter and spacing the floor.

However, he is nowhere near as effective as Clint Capela.

This season Capela was averaging 13.9 points, 13.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks on a tremendous 62.9% from the floor for the Rockets. He was grabbing 4.3 offensive rebounds a game and defending the 2nd most shots at the rim per game according NBA statistics. Capela was perfect for the Rockets because he didn’t need the ball in his hands to be effective. This allows the ball to be in the hands of James Harden and Russell Westbrook, both of whom benefitted hugely from having Capela on the floor.

Capela sets screens, grabs offensive rebounds and provides an inside presence that Harden and Westbrook were using to great effect. He was a vital cog in a decent Rockets team that could have made in the Conference Finals.

Without him I predict the Rockets will barely make it out of the first round.

Houston’s head coach Mike D’Antoni has always been known for his offense-orientated style of play. “7 seconds or less” was his playbook that defined the Phoenix Suns with Steve Nash and Amare Stoudamire in the mid 00s. He loves the 3-Point shot…which has ultimately been his downfall.

The Rockets take (43.8) and make (15.3) the most 3s per game in the NBA, but they only hit 34.8% of them which ranks them 22nd. When the shots are falling Houston is very hard to stop. When they aren’t opposing teams just have to sit back and watch the Rockets shoot themselves out of a game.

Capela provided an inside presence which allowed for at least some variety in Houston’s attack. Now that Capela has been replaced with another wing player expect more 3s, making it easier to defend against.

This trade was an obvious push to go for a pure ‘Small-Ball’ lineup with virtually no size at the PF and Center position. Capela was the only player above 6 foot 10 that saw decent minutes this season for the Rockets. Now Houston is going to really struggle to grab rebounds and defend the rim. They currently rank 23rd in points allowed per game 21st in 2-point FG% allowed per game. These numbers will surely worsen with Capela’s absence.

This was a Hail-Mary move by Daryl Morey. The Rockets are currently 5th in the Western Conference and don’t look at all set to compete for the title. When they come up against good perimeter defenses in the Playoffs Houston will crumble. They rely too much on Harden and Westbrook to create plays and for their 3 pointers to fall. Against well-structured defensive lineups, this strategy will not succeed.

The Atlanta Hawks will get the last laugh from this trade; they just got a great Center who is just about to come into his prime (Capela is only 25), all for just giving up a future 1st-round pick and Evan Turner who was averaging just over 3 points a game.

Let this be a lesson for all teams out there; your GM is arguably your most important back-office individual, so make sure they won’t make catastrophic decisions like this one.