If the Houston Rockets hope to develop Clint Capela into a viable starting center, they should follow the template the Oklahoma City Thunder used on Steven Adams.
In three years, Adams went from a raw bruiser out of Pittsburgh (by way of New Zealand) to a rising star among NBA pivot men. Capela flashed his immense potential during his sophomore campaign and will enter 2016-’17 with a chance to be an even bigger piece of Houston’s puzzle.
The Rockets’ frontcourt is in a state of flux. In the wake of Mike D’Antoni’s hiring as head coach and coming off one of the least productive seasons of his career, starting center Dwight Howard is expected to leave Space City in pursuit of a team closer to winning a championship. Fellow big men Terrence Jones, Donatas Motiejunas, Josh Smith and Michael Beasley are all free agents as well. Of that group, Beasley is the most likely to return, although D-Mo could be an intriguing option in D’Antoni’s offensive scheme.
That leaves Capela, who just turned 22 earlier this month, as the default option up front. The club is expected to pursue marquee centers such as Atlanta’s Al Horford and Miami’s Hassan Whiteside, but both men are likely to receive more compelling offers elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Capela’s path of development is similar to Adams’s trajectory at this point in his career.
Both Capela and Adams were raw international prospects entering their respective drafts. Adams played only one year of college ball before being selected as the No. 12 pick in 2013 by Oklahoma City, the last piece of the James Harden trade. The Rockets used the No. 25 pick in 2014 to grab Capela, a 20-year-old phenom from Switzerland whose physical gifts made up for his lack of basketball IQ.
Capela and Adams also cut their teeth as postseason contributors in their rookie seasons. The Thunder utilized Adams’s combination of grit and toughness to match the physicality of hard-nosed teams like the Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs during the 2014 playoff run. Last season, Capela’s ability to protect the rim came in handy during the Rockets’ rise to the Western Conference Finals: He averaged a team-high 2.6 blocks per 36 minutes.
Lastly, the Swiss Superman’s second-year stats are nearly identical to his Kiwi counterpart’s numbers.
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com
The Rockets put Capela’s development on the back-burner down the stretch. The team made a late push for the playoffs. After logging 20.9 minutes in the first half of 2015-’16, the emerging shot-blocker’s playing time dipped to 15.2 minutes per game after the All-Star break. Conversely, a big reason behind OKC’s impressive playoff campaign is that the organization was willing to spend time nurturing young talent. This process started years earlier with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. It has continued with Adams and Andre Roberson.
With Houston going back to the drawing board again this summer, the club should take a page out of the Thunder’s playbook in hopes that a potential franchise center could acquire an Adams-grade level of impact in the middle.
Find A Mentor
Who knows if we are talking about Adams’s rapid growth if fate doesn’t intervene prior to the Thunder’s 2014-’15 season? With incumbent starter Kendrick Perkins nursing an abdominal injury he suffered over the summer, Adams assumed Perk’s duties in OKC’s first five and never looked back.
Perkins compensated for his reduced role by taking Adams under his wing. On the practice court, the cagey veteran pushed his pupil to the limits by unleashing his brand of tough love. Off the court, Adams watched Perkins like a hawk and soaked up everything he could about defending the post in the pros.
“His low-post defense is amazing,” Adams said of Perk in December of 2014, per Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. “One of the best in the league. So I just try to pick up as much as I can from that.”
A year later, Adams is a brick wall in the paint. His Defensive Real Plus Minus of 3.20 was 11th-best among NBA centers this season, ahead of former Defensive Players of the Year Joakim Noah (2,48), Tyson Chandler (2.23), Marc Gasol (2.10) and Howard (1.30).
The Rockets need to acquire a similar role model, both to bring Capela along and fix a locker room that splintered during a lackluster 2015-’16 season. Capela learned from Howard for the past two seasons, but between battling through injuries and fighting for touches, the eight-time All-Star didn’t have time to play teacher. Plus, Howard isn’t returning, so the team will need a new mentor anyway.
Ideally, Houston will bring in a star to take Howard’s place and either shift Capela to power forward or give him more time to develop. However, if the plan is to stick with Capela, the team should look for someone who could compete for the starting job but still have value as a reserve should the youngster beat him out.
After spending last season in New Orleans, Perkins is once again available on the open market. His track record with Adams alone makes him worth a look. Zaza Pachulia and Roy Hibbert are also intriguing options, albeit more expensive ones. A dark-horse contender is Timofey Mozgov, who will try to get his career back on track after falling out of the rotation in Cleveland. He’s a talented rim protector when healthy, and could give Capela a run for his money.
Hit The Weight Room
Adams was fortunate enough to already have an NBA-ready body when he entered the league three years ago. At seven feet and 250 pounds, the big Kiwi had no problem dealing with the rigors of battling in the trenches against guys much older than him.
The same can’t be said for Capela, who was a six-foot-10, 222-pound stick figure on draft day. His current 240-pound frame is still too light. Unless you can knock down threes like Chris Bosh or possess a mid-range game like Anthony Davis, being physically underdeveloped is a good way to get tossed around like a rag doll in the post.
Rail-thin centers such as Chandler, Theo Ratliff, Nerlens Noel and even Davis have all struggled with injuries during their careers. Capela missed five games this season due to foot and ankle issues. Regardless of the role he’s asked to play, Capela needs to add muscle to handle the punishment of an 82-game season. His durability becomes even more crucial if Houston makes the playoffs.
By bulking up, Capela will be better equipped to battle on the boards as well as defend offensive attacks in the low post. He already held opposing scorers to 55.3-percent shooting within six feet, which was 4.6 percent below their normal output. Imagine how much of a deterrent he could be with a few extra pounds to buttress his yardstick-like wingspan.
Additionally, increased strength will make him more of a factor on the offensive end once he works on his post-up game.
Throughout this postseason, Adams has taken a beating at both ends from opponents attempting to bully him out of the paint. To his credit, he’s taken it all in stride and held his ground without so much as a whimper. However, Capela should use Adams’s pain as motivation to hit the weight room.
Of course, no amount of squats or bicep curls can prepare you for something like this:
Work On Your Post Game
Adams is still a work in progress as an interior scorer, but he looks like Wilt Chamberlain compared to Capela. Like any raw center, the bulk of Adams’s offensive production came off dunks, putbacks and layups during the early part of his young career.
This season, Adams made strides in his post game, displaying impressive footwork and a variety of moves with his back to the basket.
While Adams still makes his money scoring inside the paint, he is learning to be a factor outside it. He’s 5-of-9 this season on shots attempted from 10 to 16 feet. He made one of his two takes between 16 feet and the three-point line, per Basketball-Reference.com.
As for Capela, 99.5 percent of his regular season shots came within 10 feet of the basket. In the playoffs, that number became 100 percent. Of the 233 field goals he made (regular season and postseason), 209 of them came via dunks and layups, per NBA.com. That’s 89.7 percent of his offense.
While D’Antoni’s fast-paced offense will give Capela plenty of opportunities to score in transition, the big man must find alternative ways to score in order to become a complete player. Rockets legend Hakeem Olajuwon, arguably the most graceful center to ever play the game, spent some time with Capela this season, but their time together was brief. The young upstart needs someone who can teach him to be the versatile weapon Adams is becoming and get the most from his vast potential.
Houston doesn’t have much to build around as it attempts to climb back into contender status, but Capela could be a cornerstone with the right tutelage.
With Adams’s rapid growth, the Thunder gave the world a firsthand look at how to develop a young center. It would be in the Rockets’ best interest to follow that blueprint.
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