Houston Rockets Rumors: 3 guys who need to step up after Capela’s injury

Gary Clark, F

Gary Clark doesn’t play the same position as Capela does though that doesn’t mean he won’t be able to help fill the void left by Capela’s injury. The Houston Rockets just need big bodies to play big minutes over the next month or so as Capela recovers and Clark should be able to do that.

Clark isn’t as big as Capela. Clark isn’t as athletic as Capela. Heck, Clark can’t defend like Capela. However, Clark is capable of providing valuable minutes during his absence. Clark won’t ever reach Capela’s heights as a player but the Rockets don’t need him to reach them.

Clark had a pretty crazy rise to strong rotational minutes earlier in the season before falling out of the rotation with a strong of DNP-CDs, that it ‘Did not play – coach’s decision.’ It’s unfortunate that this happened as he was putting together some strong player prior to a couple of poor games that knocked him out of the rotation.

Now is the perfect time for Clark to get back on track. His numbers likely won’t ever pop off of the stat sheet, however, Clark provides solid defense with capable offense given the opportunities. Again, neither are in the exact same vein as Capela save a highlight block every so often but he is a big body who can hang with the modern NBA big man. He can also reliably rebound which is one of the greatest things the team will miss about Capela.

Getting Clark back into the rotation with solid minutes is going to be imperative to surviving without Capela patrolling the paint. If he can get back to the solid minutes he provided prior to his DNP-CDs, the Houston Rockets will be able to bridge the gap to Capela’s return.