With the Rockets apparently in fire sale mode, it begs a particular question. Who’s the better piece, Clint Capela or the Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat?
After another season that can only be classified as a disappointment, based on the loud mouthing and braggadocio exhibited by the Houston Rockets’ front office prior to the season, General Manager Daryl Morey is seemingly fed up. Fed up indeed, and most specifically with the fact that his team just can’t seem to beat the Golden State Warriors when it matters the most, a challenge the Miami Heat have yet to experience.
The fact that the Rockets couldn’t do so seems to be unsurprising to the general public, but was surely surprising to Morey, as he told the world and everybody else that would listen that his team was constructed to beat the Warriors. Well, that didn’t happen and Morey now seems to be backtracking, as concluded by a Woj bomb of sorts that was dropped on Wednesday.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported on Wednesday that the Rockets General Manager has made everyone on the roster available in potential trades, including prized swing-man James Harden. Woj, as he is affectionately called in the Basketball and sports community, also would go on to express that he thinks Rockets’ big man Clint Capela is “probably the most tradeable” of all the major pieces on the team.
When thinking about the moving of Capela and how it relates to the Miami Heat in some fashion, it seems like a moot point with Bam Adebayo on the roster. It does make you wonder though, who is the better piece right now?
Looking at their per game stats from this past season, Capela nearly doubled Adebayo’s production for the Miami Heat in every category. Capela averaged 16.6 points per game, while Adebayo only averaged 8.9. Capela also averaged 12.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game while Bam only averaged 7.3 rebounds and .8 blocks per game himself.
Adebayo did manage to beat out Capela in the steals and assists category though, with 2.2 dimes to 1.4 and swiping .9 steals while Capela only averaged .7 per game. Skewing the stats a bit towards Capela though, is the fact that he averaged about four more minutes per game this season than Adebayo.
If you take a look at their per 36 minute stats, which reflect a players production estimate across hypothetically playing 36 minutes per game, Capela seems to have a slight edge there as well. He averaged 17.8 points, 13.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.6 blocks, and .7 steals per 36 this past season. Bam Adebayo averaged 13.7 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 1.3 steals in the per 36 statistical categories.
What does it all mean though? It would mean a ton to Morey who is an admitted fanatic when it comes to statistics and metrics, but to the average coach or fan, not so much. This is because the numbers are so eerily similar, that they could almost be mistaken for the same player.
Whereas Capela averaged a few more points, those can be accounted for with the two more assists per 36 that Adebayo averaged. The slight uptick in blocks owned by Capela here could also be accounted for in the fact that Adebayo almost doubled his steal rate.
The question remains however, who would you rather have right now? That is simple. It should be Adebayo.
With the Miami Heat bias set aside, the reasons are as simple as the answer. The first one would be the money, as when everything else fails, always go back to the money. Clint Capela made almost $14 million dollars this past season, on the first year of a 5 year/$90 million dollar pact while Adebayo only made about $3 million on the second year of his rookie contract.
Adebayo is also about 4 years younger that Capela, which is relevant for two reasons although only one is important here. With the less important fact being that he is simply a younger player with more years presumably left in his career, the more important fact about their ages being that the question is about “right now” is that even with the age and experience difference, Adebayo was equally or just as productive as Capela was.
For the reasons mentioned above, while you can’t forget the tedious and more than likely gluttonous process it would take to secure Capela in a deal with the Rockets, the answer is Bam Adebayo. He is and should continue to be an integral part of this young Miami Heat core. Good luck, or not, to the Houston Rockets in getting off of those deals.
They will need it. With about $250 million dollars allocated to James Harden and Chris Paul alone over the next three years, luck may not be enough. The Miami Heat’s cap situation doesn’t seem so bad now, does it?