Houston Rockets: Clint Capela needs to suck it up and sign the deal

The Houston Rockets have made little headway in trying to improve this team over last season as time continues to tick on Clint Capela deciding whether or not he will remain with the team. What’s the latest going on? Let’s look.

The Houston Rockets are at the middle of July and I’m not feeling much confidence in our ability to not only compete but to beat the Golden State Warriors next season because of the team’s inability to be able to sign their own stars.

Around this time last season, we were praising the Houston Rockets for quickly adding Chris Paul to the roster to push this team over the top to new heights. We all knew at that moment that success was on the horizon despite of some skepticism that the rapport between Paul and James Harden would work.

Well that’s now history as the team set offensive records and was able to net a franchise-high 65 wins on the season. But with much of this off season for the Houston Rockets yielding less than what’s desired, it remains to be seen what’s on the horizon.

Respected NBA hoops journalist Brian Geltzeiler reported a few days ago that little progress has been made in talks with the Houston Rockets:

Hearing from league sources that Clint Capela has rejected a 5 year $85 million offer from the Houston Rockets
— Brian Geltzeiler (@BGeltzNBA) July 11, 2018

Clint Capela still hasn’t signed with the team despite the team making THREE offers to get the ball rolling. If you need a recap of what happened, here you go.

Right at the start of free agency, the Houston Rockets offered Capela a $4.75 million qualifying

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offer to get his free agency started. However, when LeBron James opted out, this theoretically put at a disadvantage, especially when he was rumored to get an offer from the Los Angeles Lakers.

Recently, the Rockets upped the ante with a four-year, $60 million offer worth $15 million per season to which he didn’t agree to. So that latest offer that Capela has had thrown at him gives him an extra year plus an additional $10 million spread over those five years.

I know he’s concerned about being able to maximize his earnings over his prime years but I think the deal he’s getting is quite lucrative and he’s playing with fire, especially if there’s any type of injury or regression in 2018-19.

At the worst, I proposed in a previous piece that Capela should agree to a deal on shorter terms such as a two-year, $30 million deal and that certainly would be a win-win for both sides. This would allow Capela and the Houston Rockets to have the ultimate flexibility — no ball-and-chain for either side — to keep the peace intact.

This reminds me a lot about the situation with Donatas Motiejunas when he was a restricted free agent the off season before last. The Rockets had offered him a one-year deal up to $8 million but he turned it down, the team rescinded it and he ended up signing with the New Orleans Pelicans for about $2 million in a largely forgettable season for the team. He’s now back overseas probably not making anywhere close to what he could have earned.

Capela is playing fire and should come back to the table as such. It’s great to have that agent in your ear but it all comes down to what he wants and I’m positive this decision to hold out is at least partially influenced by the Wasserman Group, his representation.

Come back to the table Clint, we need you and try to work out something reasonable. We’ll have to see.

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Capela, 24, averaged 13.9 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks off 65.2 percent shooting from the field and 56 percent from the charity stripe last season, all career-highs.

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