The Houston Rockets are desperately trying to improve their roster. Clint Capela is reportedly on the trade market. Should the Detroit Pistons offer Andre Drummond?
The Houston Rockets and the Detroit Pistons are both stuck with two centers that are making a lot of money for the next few seasons.
The Rockets are reportedly trying to improve their roster. But with no cap space to work with, they are forced to look into trading some of their core players. The two main names that were reportedly up on the trade market are Chris Paul and Clint Capela.
Clint Capela is among the players Houston has gauged the market for in recent days, league sources https://t.co/w6H91QzpdD
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 29, 2019
The Rockets haven’t had the playoff success that they have hoped for in the last few seasons. After being up 3-2 against the Golden State Warriors in 2017, they blew their series lead and let the Warriors advance into the NBA Finals. They were of course without Chris Paul for game 6 and 7.
So they decided to run it back; this time without defensive players Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute. The Rockets finished as the fourth seed in the West. They made quick work of the Utah Jazz in round one.
They were faced up against the defending champions in round two; the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors would go up 3-2 in the series. But the Rockets had hope. Kevin Durant suffered an injury that would keep him out for the rest of the series.
This was great news for the Rockets. It was their perfect opportunity to take advantage and make it one step closer to the Finals. But they failed to capitalize on this opportunity. They blew game 6 and lost the series.
Clint Capela was almost non-existent in the playoffs. He averaged 9.7 points per game, 10.3 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks on 56.1 percent shooting.
Capela is still owed 16 million next season and up to 19 million in his fourth and final year of his contract. Meaning he is still owed 75 million dollars after signing a 5-year 90 million dollar deal during the off-season.
Andre Drummond on the other hand is owed 27 million next season and 28 million the year after. He also played poorly in this year’s playoffs. But the Bucks focused their defense on Drummond more than teams did on Capela during the playoffs.
Would the Rockets be interested in a Drummond for Capela swap? Maybe.
The potential of Drummond working next to James Harden could very well interest the Rockets. Drummond is more of an offensive threat than Capela is. And Drummond has also been able to stay healthy. Capela missed 15 games this season.
Drummond is also a much better rebounder than Capela is. Anything that Chris Paul and James Harden miss, Drummond will be right there to clean it up. Both players are similar defensively.
Should the Detroit Pistons do this trade? NO!
Andre Drummond is a better center than Clint Capela. Capela is one year younger, but the ceiling for Drummond is a lot higher. And the Capela experiment next to Blake Griffin could turn into a disaster. Drummond is owed two more years on his contract. Capela is owed 4 more years.