Well even if he’s at his full potential. I guy avg 17/12/2 on 65% Is pretty good. Ur not giving him credit for his passing that has improved or his great hands and ability to catch any pass high low and still control it and finish around the hoop with his good Touch. U act like there is a bunch of center in the league that can do what he does. Is their athletes like Clint at the center spot? Sure. Can they set a good screen and roll to the hoop? A few can. But how many can finish around the hoop as well as Clint and catch the passes he catches? Maybe Embid KAT and AD that’s about it. That skill set alone is what makes him a special offensive center in today game. He’s not a HOF guy but outside of the truley elite guys like I mentioned he’s right there to be considered the next best thing.
I did not hold him to the same standard as a freshly drafted rookie as I do today. I wanted him gone because he was a project and we were trying to win a ring with Harden and Dwight and we needed players around them, not a raw rookie. The original plan was to stash him in Europe for a year anyways. That's what Morey wanted to do with him. He refused and we signed him. Even Morey didn't want him on the roster in 2014. So I don't see the big deal. Later when he started producing I admitted I was too low on him and he was better than my projections. However, I never got sky high on him like you are. Because I never saw him as a defensive difference-maker, which, in my opinion is the MOST IMPORTANT function of a modern 5. And because he never learned to shoot the 3. So, when it became obvious to me that Capela was not going to develop a great skill set in these two areas...then I again stated we needed to trade him, while he was still on his rookie contract, and still had enough time on his rookie deal to have trade value. I was wanting, and still want, a reset at the center position with a low-priced young big that perhaps could develop into a better switch defender than Capela and a be legit 3-point shooter. Because I personally believe those are the two skills that we need at the 5 spot to beat the Warriors. And Capela doesn't have either one good enough. You can make the case that he can switch and defend smalls. And I will agree with you up to a point. But, despite the highlight where he switched onto Curry and blocked the shot, he cannot defend Curry efficiently in switches, nor can he defends the upper layer of perimeter players efficiently. And that's the problem. He's a good NBA player. But he's not good enough at his salary at his position to help us beat the Warriors. Look at the two teams top 5 guys; Harden - Durant Paul - Curry PJ - Draymond Capela - Klay Gordon - Iggy You could make a great case that our top 3 players match their top 3 players. You cannot make a good case that Capela/Gordon are as good as Klay/Iggy. We need to trade Capela.
Clint Capela's ceiling is impossible to predict. He's made incredible leaps every year. 20 points a game doesn't seem out of his range even now. He can be reliably 20-10 player now. He looks more and more like Dream almost every game. He's talented in so many ways but his greatest talent is to constantly add to his game.
Seems like he got neutralized tonite. By cedi osman and kutcher err korver. Lets take off our home glass for a moment here, without harden (80% of his points) and cp3 (15% of his points) will he be able to score a double digit without them on the court? Heck even on other teams?
I dog players when they are playing bad and not helping us win. I dogged Harden relentlessly about his turnovers and unwillingness to play with another playmaker. I'm going to start dogging him again if he didn't get his turnovers down. I dogged JVG the season when he overplayed Yao and McGrady and they went down against the Lakers. I dogged Ryan Anderson when he woildn't take shots I dogged Kyle Lowry when he sulled up after Goran broke out when he was out hurt. I dogged Dwight for his crappy FT shooting. Don't dog Capela though.....he's off-limits.
