NBA Draft
Houston Rockets Select Clint Capela No. 25
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
The last thing the Houston Rockets were looking for when they made their selection with the 25th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft was an immediate impact player who would, among other things, take up valuable cap space. What they did want was a player with potential whom they could stash somewhere for a while to develop. That’s just what they got when they called Clint Capela’s name.
Capela comes to the NBA from Switzerland, where he was a top player for Élan Chalon of the LNB Pro A.
Speculation abounds that the Rockets may not keep Capela, as they are in the process of clearing cap space in an effort to land either Carmelo Anthony or LeBron James in free agency. Capela could turn out to be an asset to be used as part of a trade that either unloads a contract like that of Jeremy Lin or goes out in a package in a sign-and-trade scenario with New York, for example.
Whether or not he ever plays for Houston, Capela is a solid young player with a great deal of potential. The Rockets are not a team that would run a lot of plays for Capela, should he grace the lineup, but that’s OK, because this young man has a gift for creating offense with hustle and had work. He likes to cut to the basket for lob passes, which fits right in with Houston’s offensive game plan, and he is also adept at getting points by working the offensive glass. Capela is a finisher, and that translates well to basketball at any level and in any country. Whether he’s tearing things up for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers next season, or making a name for himself with another team, Capela should be around the NBA for years to come.
