Charlotte Hornets: Team may be interested in Rockets’ Clint Capela
The Charlotte Hornets are currently interested in possibly trading with the Houston Rockets. Will Charlotte be looking to make a trade for Rockets’ center, Clint Capela?
The Charlotte Hornets look to be interested in possibly making a trade with another team prior to the NBA Draft. On Thursday, reports indicated that Charlotte was one of the four teams interested in making a trade with the Houston Rockets.
The Rockets are currently shopping Clint Capela, Chris Paul, and Eric Gordon, so that they can open up cap space. As of now, the Rockets are seeking to trade with a team that holds a lottery pick in this year’s draft.
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It would seem that Charlotte and the Boston Celtics would be the team’s that Houston would trade with, but it just makes more sense for them to make a trade with the Hornets. Charlotte currently possesses the 12th pick in this year’s draft.
A likely candidate that Charlotte will be targeting will be Houston’s Clint Capela. To me, he seems like the most likely candidate if Charlotte plans to re-sign Kemba Walker in the coming months.
I do not really see them targeting Chris Paul, but if they did, it could eliminate them from re-signing Walker. Based off of what the Hornets need, Capela just seems to be the likely trade candidate for Charlotte.
James Borrego made it known at the end of the season that he would like to see the frontcourt upgraded defensively. The Hornets did not do well in this department, as they ranked 18th in the NBA in blocks per game with 4.9.
The Hornets also did not do well with rebounding the ball this year. They dropped from being a top-three rebounding team in the 2017-18 season, and they finished this season being ranked 23rd.
With the addition of Clint Capela, Charlotte would instantly be getting a player who can effectively rebound and block shots. Capela is coming off a career year, where he averaged 16.6 points and 12.7 rebounds per game.
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If Houston is looking to get rid of Capela’s 4-year $74 million contract, they will need to exchange it for one similar; the Hornets’ forward, Nicolas Batum. Batum is set to make $25 million in the 2019-20 season, and Houston would benefit from having his expiring contract.
This trade is great because it would give the Hornets help in their frontcourt, and it would possibly motivate Walker to stay in Charlotte. The only bad thing about trading for Capela would be the fact that Charlotte would be losing their lottery pick in the draft.
Capela is still young, so trading a draft pick for him may be okay, but this trade would only be good if the Hornets are looking to re-sign Walker. If the Hornets do not want to re-sign Walker, then I think this trade would be disastrous if they trade away their pick.
I would like to see Capela get a change of scenery because I think he has a lot of potential. He would fit in well with Coach Borrego’s defensive scheme, and he would also be nice in the pick-and-roll game with Walker.
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The Hornets have a lot of tough decisions that they must make this offseason, and it would be interesting to see if Charlotte actually makes a trade with Houston. With one year in Charlotte under his belt, Mitch Kupchak could be poised to make a lot of moves in the coming months.