Poll: Do you like the Clint Capela-Robert Covington trade?

Yeah replace WB's 27 ppg with Cp3's 17 I guess Harden has to score 40 a night for the Rox to win games.

 

not really. terrible way to look at the game

by this logic harden's scoring average is dramatically lower bc wb omg scores so much. guess again and do better

 

Good post and a very reasonable take. I think it’s fairly obvious we’re a much better team by swapping Capela for RoCo. Nobody is really disputing that.

....but the Harden PnR was a thing of beauty to watch. The problem was depending upon it, which we had our moments of doing, but we’re way beyond that point now with Russ in the mix. But, yeah, for the moments when Russ is sitting, it would be nice to have a young Capela-like big to resurrect the PnR, and add another dimension to our new offense.

 

Rockets do not win tonight if no RoCo or Clint crowding the paint.

 

This is a hypothetical, maybe 15 MPG (tops), type of option off of the bench. Russ isn’t playing all 48 minutes.

You can get creative during that [brief] timespan. Everyone knows you can’t have Russ and Capela type out there at the same time.

 

No RoCo, no win.

Injured Clint, no win.

Nothing hypothetical about it.

 

This is very true.

By going small and not having an above the rim rolling threat, it does take away a significant part of James’s game.

But those types of bigs are pretty common nowadays, and more importantly, can be had for a fraction of what we were paying Capela. And Capela is on a pretty fair and team friendly deal.

But when you have two players making 40+M/year, paying a offensively limited center 18M is tough. Especially, when Westbrook needs the space in the lane to be effective.

Westbrook has exploded since the Rockets have gone small.

Rockets are sacrificing a bit of Harden’s game to elevate Russ’ game to new (and efficient) heights.

That was the only way the Rockets were ever going to be serious contender; both Russ and Harden need to play to their MVP standards. Harden is so great, you can put almost anyone on the same floor as him and the team will be good. For Russ, you had to embrace a certain identity and play style for him and when we did, he returned to a real MVP candidate.

 

A healthy CP3 is powerful and look what he is doing with the thunder.

But RB is interesting, and he's still playing very well.

I don't know if this team is better with CP3 + Clint over WB + Roco.

 

You’re badly misunderstanding me.

I fully supported and still support the trade. Again, we’re a much better team now.

I’m just saying I can appreciate what dobro was saying about missing the Harden PnR in a hypothetical world where it would still be possible to integrate it on a smaller scale (with a Capela replacement) while Russ is resting, that’s all.

 

Indeed. Imagine If we had him to throw at Draymond Green the last couple years. Yeesh... Such a stud.

 

I agree with that sentiment but Clint making too much to be a 15 minute specialist.

Rockets need a roller, lob threat that can also switch everything AND not be a liability from 3.

Ibaka would be good but I would love Aaron Gordon.

Another interesting low cost option is Omari Spellman.

 

Just swapping Capela for Covington I could get behind. Dumping a 1st round pick too? Didn't like that.

 

I voted No back then .... and didn't change my vote.

Conventional wisdom is that you don't trade quality big men for "little guys" .... But that was a different era of basketball. Today's rules give those little guys advantages , so much so that the way the game is played has completely changed and those big men are all but irrelevant in todays NBA. There isn't really a single back to the basket / post up Star big in the entire league.

Yeah , it would be nice to have a defensive anchor in the middle .... and someone who could rebound with the opposing big men or to aid Harden when Westbrook takes a seat .... but on the offensive end , the Rockets have a distinct advantage with 5 shooters and two guys that demand a double team on every possession.

It would be ideal to have a Capela type center on the roster as a situational sub .... but not at a Capela type cost. Vet Min money sure , but definitely not $15m per which equates to roughly 13.3% of the total cap.

 

I thought Covington was acquired as an unrestricted free agent.

 

Yeah he was signed during all star weekend when the free agency period began Friday night at midnight. Morey went over to his house

 

Sure the picks might have been enough ... but those picks didn't match the salary required to make the deal.

And lets be honest - Westbrook has been the much better player that CP3 since that trade averaging more points , rebounds and assists.
He also has much more tread on the tires - extending the window of opportunity.

 

Not really. This team still hasn’t reached the level of what those rockets teams were. Extending the window is just what people are hoping is going to happen.

the deal for roco had a ton of moving parts. If anyone Could figure it out it’s morey. Take a look at what minny ended up with. It isn’t good and they immediately forwarded the pick they received

 

Hakeem would faint and shore up his face up game nowadays.