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2025 Free Agents - Clint Capela

Capela burst onto the scene during the James Harden era in Houston. He made his living offensively as a pick-and-roll lob threat. He also showed just enough touch around the rim to be able to make more than just dunks, and just enough ball skills to make the right reads when the defense collapsed around him. He has had similar success operating as the primary pick-and-roll partner for Trae Young in Atlanta, but has struggled a bit more in recent years. Now in his 30s, Capela does not have the same level of burst and explosiveness that he had in his prime. He only hit 61% at the rim in '23-'24, which was the lowest mark since his rookie season, and by far the lowest mark of the past eight seasons. It was also only in the 19th percentile among bigs, according to Cleaning the Glass. Defensively, Capela was pretty switchable in his prime. He was never an elite switch defender and someone you wanted on the perimeter much, but he could at least hold up well enough to feel comfortable defending out there late in the shot clock. That has regressed a bit as he has aged too, as he's not as quick laterally as he used to be. He still can protect the rim decently, and posts good block rates. He also rebounds really well on both ends of the court. Capela will be 31 years old as a free agent in 2025, so continued regression will likely be expected. He's probably a below-average starting center now, and could be looking at back-up roles very soon.

Summary

Capela will be an unrestricted free agent with a $33.4 million cap hold and full Bird Rights, meaning the Hawks will have no restrictions on re-signing him. Since the Hawks will most likely be operating over the cap, and since his cap hold exceeds his likely starting salary, his cap hold is not really relevant. Depending on how close the Hawks are to the luxury tax after free agency, if Capela is brought back by the Hawks on a multi-year contract they could benefit from frontloading his contract, as it could give them additional flexibility in the future. For other teams, if Capela demands a starting salary of more than the full $14.1 million Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception, only teams with cap space will be able to sign him, unless a sign-and-trade is worked out. However, it's likely that Capela could be had for the full MLE or slightly less.

Cap Considerations

Jonas Valanciunas (3 years, $30 million, 2024) Al Horford (2 years, $19.5 million, 2023) Steven Adams (2 years, $35 million, 2023)

Player/Contract Comparison

Potential Teams: Pelicans, Hawks, Rockets, Grizzlies, Raptors

Predicted Contract: 1-year, $10 million with the Pelicans

Last updated: 7/28/2024

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