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Michael Shapiro: Here’s Clint on his first career 3-pointer. Capela said Ime Udoka drew a play for him, asked which corner he preferred. Adds he was nervous he was going to get pulled after an earlier air-ball from three. “It worked perfectly, just like in the dream.”
Clint Capela had a season-high 23 points with 13 rebounds on Sunday night as Houston’s stars sat out in a 132-101 rout of the injury-plagued Memphis Grizzlies to end the regular season. The Rockets went 4-0 against the Grizzlies this season for their first season sweep against them since 2009-10.
Clint Capela: The World Cup is coming here and I’m very excited because both of my countries are qualifying in Switzerland and [Republic] of Congo which are my home countries. It doesn’t get better than this. Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: That is a legendary situation for your family. Between Switzerland and Congo, who are you actually pulling for when the tournament kicks off? Clint Capela: I’m 50-50 for sure. I think for Congo it’s the first time qualifying in seven years or something? So that would be even crazier, you know? So they play in the playoffs in March, so they got a good chance.
Tim MacMahon: Rockets C Alperen Sengun (back) is out vs. Lakers tonight, per Ime Udoka. Clint Capela will get the start and match up with Deandre Ayton.
Where the media sees a wall with Westbrook, teammates see a bridge. Many players who have played alongside him cite him as their favorite teammate ever and someone who brought people together. Clint Capela, who was with Westbrook for only 35 games, is one of them. He called Russ "the most genuine superstar" that he’s ever played with. "Very happy person. Very nice guy," Capela told me. "Always smiling, always joking around. I was like wow, I never thought that a superstar could also be that great of a guy."
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Los Angeles Lakers center Deandre Ayton raised eyebrows this week when he was heard saying in the Lakers locker room his team is "trying to make me Clint Capela." Those remarks have indeed gotten back to Capela. The Houston Rockets center took a playful shot at Ayton Thursday night via his Instagram story. Sharing an ESPN post that contained Ayton's comments, Capela wrote "U got 2 of the best floor general in the game my dawg Lockinnn" and included two crying from laughter emojis.
When he was finished speaking to the group, Ayton made his way back toward the showers and said what he really felt -- loud enough for anyone still in the locker room to hear. "They're trying to make me Clint Capela," Ayton said, referring to the Houston Rockets' now backup center, who a decade ago made his impact as a lob-catching, rim-running big on a team that made it to two conference finals. "I'm not no Clint Capela!"
Houston, according to team sources, has had discussions with around half the league — with more incoming and outgoing calls expected over the next 10 days as the Feb. 5 trade deadline draws closer — but doesn't have any firm offer in either direction that is cause for serious internal discussion. What they do have is an understanding of what they are willing to do and an inkling of what teams want. For instance, the Rockets received a number of calls surrounding Tari Eason prior to him becoming a starter, sources say — as well as inquiries on summer additions Dorian Finney-Smith and Clint Capela — but nothing, as mentioned earlier, was concrete.
Udoka’s coaching style differs from Mike D’Antoni’s, too. “Ime is more, he shows us what he wants. He will not give it to you easy,” Capela said, smiling. “Every game we lose, the team’s gonna remember that, you know, it was a fight. I just feel Ime really has that fighting mentality.”
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“I feel like this team has something here again that can allow us to go forward and win,” Capela said. “This is what made the choice to come here. I wanted to feel that again, to be on the team where we have all the tools to make it happen.”
But Fred VanVleet still has a no-trade clause because of the two-year deal he signed, Kelly. So my question for you is: Fred has a $25 million deal — that’s a very tradable number — but he has the no-trade clause. Do you have any indication or any insight into whether he’d be willing to waive that no-trade clause? Because that would be the piece they’d want to move, right?" Kelly Iko: "Yeah — not at this time. I don’t. I think it’s still pretty raw in their minds. I talked to them the other day, and they said, 'Look, this is the bed that we made. If we’re going into the season, these are the guys we’re going to battle with.' Come December, you might have different conversations. Clint Capela is making a team-friendly salary — you could see something happen with that. But outside of that, these are the guys they want in the rotation. Ime Udoka specifically handcrafted this roster, right? His identity is length, versatility, and size on the perimeter. You’ve got Tari Eason, Jabari Smith Jr., Dorian Finney-Smith, Josh Okogie, guys like Jae’Sean Tate — you want to have as many of those guys as possible.
Smith will also start his fourth NBA season playing alongside a group of new teammates after the Rockets added superstar forward Kevin Durant, forward Dorian Finney-Smith and center Clint Capela this offseason. “I’m excited, honestly, just to see what we can do, the heights we can reach, just growing together, meeting new teammates,” Smith said. “I’m just overly excited.”
Michael Scotto: Update: Clint Capela’s three-year, $21.1 million deal with the Houston Rockets includes a five percent trade kicker, league sources told @hoopshype.
