Atlanta Hawks: Clint Capela 2024 player capsule, strengths, weaknesses, projection (Part 1)

Atlanta Hawks: Clint Capela 2024 player capsule, strengths, weaknesses, projection (Part 1)

on today’s show we are back with more of our player capsule series and Glenn Willis is here to talk about Clint capella with me this is part one of two and it’s coming to you right now you are locked on Hawks your daily Atlanta Hawks podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day Hello friends welcome to episode 1 1730 of the lon Hawks podcast I am your host Brad Roland coming to you on a Tuesday here in early June and today’s podcast is brought to by Folks at fand Sportsbook right now if you’re a new customer get 150 in terms of dollars and bonus Bets with any winning $5 bets the place to go is fanduel.com lockon to get started I also want to encourage you at the top of the podcast as I always do to make us your first listen here at lck on Hawks each and every day check us out and subscribe to the podcast on Apple or Spotify or both or overcast also we are on YouTube on the video side and today’s podcast going to be a continuation of our player capsule series with Glenn Willis joining me of atl1 29 P3 Hoops Etc and today we will be tackling Clint capella again this is part one of two so if you want to stay tuned I definitely encourage you to do that for part two it should be available in your same podcast feed of choice right now not of ton else to get to on the news front I did do a sort of news catchup SL mailbag podcast on Sunday evening into Monday that’s still very much listenable right now plus tons of M draft stuff in recent days from you know all kinds of guests let should say uh if you want to look at the archive Brian Scher um you know Bryce Simon Etc all those guys and all those all that great Insight is still available in your in your same podcast feed of choice and we’ll have more on the draft but every year we try to dive into the roster as well as the draft at the same time so here we go myself and Glenn talking about click aella once again and this is part one it’s coming to you here we go I joined once again by my friend Glenn Willis Glenn I don’t know about you but everyone in my life comes to me in the streets and they say when can we talk about Clint capella I know it’s is this is I know this is going to be one that produces zero controversy there will be no comments under the YouTube you know uh published uh you know episode here and or if there are that we all be glowingly positive about Clint so you know all all all roses and uh you know all the rest here with Clint that’s right and you know if you are a new listener what we have done the last couple years and also this year Glenn has been gracious enough to give me a bunch of time which I’m appreciative of and we talk about players on the Hawks roster and what we like to describe as somewhat holistic fashion like you can’t talk about every single aspect of a player and even if we go an hour like we often do but we try to paint the whole picture right of what happened this year what the player is age stuff future stuff offense defense Nuance all that stuff and that’s what we’re doing today um I’ll just say this now we’re recording this in very early June uh last year I think we we pretty much did the entire roster except for Trey before the draft we’re not going to make it this year we’re uh we’re picking some guys who are this is not intentional necessarily but I would say Clint is on this list of guys who could conceivably be traded before we end up doing more player capsules in July and August um in fact most recently on Sunday I did a podcast that was a solo show about um kind of the latest Intel out there and like Mark Stein reported that Clint’s available and it was kind of like yeah no du he’s available but that’s one of those things that we’ll kind of get into along the way here but as we always do with these guys let’s just start Broad and you know Clint just turned 30 after the season he finishes 10th NBA Clint’s been around for a long time 10th NBA season is in the books um played a lot of games this year 73 games only DJ and bogy played more games on the Hawks roster um before we sort of dig in a little bit what was your overall impression of capella because as we sort of joke about always polarizing in the fan base but um was and available this year obviously had some nagging stuff as he almost always seems to but um he was out there for as much as the center is usually going to be out there and uh generally was regarded at least by the numbers as a positive contributor year yeah I mean he’s still a very reliable defensive big man he’s still one of the you know top 10 I’ll say 10 rebounders in the league whatever number you want to pick there he’s smart as hell on both ends of the Court he absolutely knows what he’s doing from a tactical standpoint terms of helping ball handlers on defense organizing all that sort of stuff you know but I think it’s you know for Hawks fans that say Clint looked different this year I think that’s fair you know couple things there one is they were running a scheme we talked about it the whole season I don’t want to we don’t need to spend 15 minutes talking they’re running a scheme that that wasn’t this you know the very best for Clint to kind of do his thing right they were getting him all the way to the level a lot and and it’s kind of funny some people want to say he was terrible at it he was not terrible at it no when when he was physically right he’s pretty good at it when he wasn’t physic but he didn’t look physically right I guess I’ll use those words it wasn’t as good at it and so I think this was a different year in that in the previous season Clint has had kind of you know a week here a week there throughout a whole season where he just doesn’t look like he’s running quite as well he’s his verticality is not the same this week it felt more or this year it felt more like I don’t know six or seven weeks could cumulatively where he was just kind of not you know the normal kind of bouncy and um you know agile kind of you know big man that you would expect so that I think that was there how much of that was the scheme that they were playing being more it is more work to get way up the four you know and all of that so so that’s there the other part was you know for Hawks fi I want to say his finishing was a problem this year I what I will say is that Hawks fans who said his finishing was problem last year I disagree with that right he was a totally fine finisher last year right now does it look bad sometimes it does it look frustrating like in the moment you know you know you and I talked about this like they’re down six points with three minutes to go he gets a bunny right at the rim and he misses and you’re like that’s a k that one right there is a killer and I understand the reaction from HW fans on that you know who were like oh my gosh that was such an easy shot and so the drop off finishing was impactful you know this year and and so for me he looks like a guy who’s t one step into you know having played I don’t know 30,000 minutes in his career whatever whatever that number I looked it up earlier this year but you know he’s a big man who’s played a lot of minutes in his career and these are the kinds of things that often start to show up here and there as they kind of hit this phase of the career and I I thought that’s what we saw this year but I still think he was their most important Defender start to start to finish on the whole season I think he was their most reliable guy even when they weren’t um you know playing in a scheme that was the best fit for him and well you know when he’s on on the floor they struggle to rebound you know when he’s on the floor they really have no issue rebounding and so you know I know we’ll get into kind of how he fits with certain players on the floor with some of his limitations and stuff but for me like in a vacuum NBA team like is just looking for a guy that they could just pencil land at Center and kind of hit all the basic check boxes on defense and rebounding Clint hits all of those is he an All-Star level player no is he an all NBA you know level Defender no but in terms of just looking for solid reliable Baseline level play in all the important areas Clint still gives you that my view Today’s Show is brought to you by FanDuel sports book it’s where to take all time right now in the NBA and the NHL if that was G you a shot to bring home a big win of your own fandel is America’s number one Sportsbook and right now if you’re a new customer get 150 that’s 150 bucks in bonus bets guaranteed that’s 150 in terms of bets that you can use on hoops and baseball hockey and so much more but on all of your favorite baseball basketball players and teams with quick bets live send game parlays exclusive props and much more the app of f Sportsbook is really easy to use everything that you’re looking for in sports betting space from over unders to player props money lines future bets game props and so much more the Fel app is safe it’s secure that covered the entire range of sports as well that includes the NBA the WNBA NFL college football ml be college baseball in the World Series going on right now golf tennis soccer auto racing boxing MMA and so much more and now is an awesome time sign with the folks at Fel Sportsbook and the place to go is fanduel.com lockon one more time just visit fanduel.com lockon and make every playoff shot count with FanDuel America’s number one sports book so this will probably come up a lot during the conversation different ways but you throw it out there and you’re right and you know I I know some of the action is going to be that you and I are too high on Clint that’s I’ll I’ll I’ll take that blow it’s fine I I know especially especially me I take that blow all the time it’s fine and even I and you just acknowledge this as well Clint is not the same athlete player that he was four years ago he he just isn’t I I even then I’m sure I was accused of being too high on him but in 2021 when they made the Conference Finals run he was one of the five best Affairs in the league that year I thought he was incredible That season that guy’s gone he’s 30 years old I get it but o overall I would say there’s a difference between that guy is gone and Clint is now useless which is where the conversation a lot of the time goes and that’s just generally speaking kind of just silly so you mentioned the defensive stuff we’s start let’s start on the defense it’s it’s the more important side not only for him but also for the center position you know some some teams a small handful of them rely on their Center for a lot of offense you know Denver of course and be Etc there’s probably five teams in the league that do that most of the time though de Center is a defense first position on teams that includes what the Hawks have been asking him to do so we’ll start there and by the way he’s been our defense in offense we we we understand that but he was their best defender this year it’s and that’s back by the numbers like he was number one on pretty much all of the advanced catch-all metrics defensively for the Hawks this year EPM uh basketball index’s numbers Darko all those numbers he was number one on the team that for me stacks up um you mentioned the rebounding um not only is he a great rebounder for himself which he is um better on offense than defense at this point in time offensively he might be the number one guy in the league or certainly in the top two or three defensively I think you’re right to say he’s maybe a top 15 rebounder or whatever defensively but he’s still really good there and I have I have a stats sort of dive in here on this on this front because rebounding G be a big topic it already is on the draft front about Alexa and stuff like that um Aang has always been a rebounding topic Jaylen Etc but this is a very simple way to describe Clint’s value on the glass individually is great but as a team this year the Hawks had a 73.3% defensive rebound rate as a team this year with him on the court with Clint off the court that dropped to 70.3% so a three percentage Point drop off now that may not seem very big but it is here’s what I’ll tell you the number with Clint on the court is a top five Mark in the league level that’s a top five defensive rebounding team in the league with Clint on the court with Clint off the court they’ have been number number 25 in the league so essentially you go from Clint on the court you are a top five free bounding team on the defensive on the floor it’s not only Clint I will not I will not pay there’s always a little bit of noise and onoff stuff but he is the best rebounder he’s the he’s the rebounding force on the team and when he sat they were suddenly not just like average they were really bad on the glass and the common denominator there is your Center and your rebounder and your anchor and your box out guy all that stuff so that’s only one area but since you brought brought it up I wanted to start with that because you know it’s not always pretty rebounding is sometimes underrated could be overrated too like I remember I mean you remember those teams in 2015 2016 that were great defensively but they couldn’t get a rebound sometimes it was like oh Al Horford can’t get a rebound people were really mad but it matters like if you’re a really good rebounder and your team especially is really good when you’re on the court that stuff is a good place to kind of start with Clint and of course he does other things too but that’s probably the thing that he is still I would say most regarded as doing even my people that don’t like him they will at least be able to point at the rebound column like oh clay has 12 rebounds tonight like it’s a pretty obvious counting stat but even beyond that like his impact there is pretty clear it is and it’s interesting because if you you know if you watch the way that the different coaches in the league like to defend the older coaches still like to play drop they believe in keeping their big man in the paint they believe in keeping their big man close to the rim and we can go we can even just talk you know at a high level through the playoffs we’ve seen times where defensive teams were getting their bigs away from the paint and they could not get a rebound in the defensive possession and it killed it cost him playoff games right Thunder the newer coaches the newer Co Quinn Quinn will talk we heard Quinn all year long talk about team rebounding ging rebounding you know and if you’re going to get your big out of the paint it really does take everybody kind of contributing to that but some like Doc Rivers doesn’t believe in that Doc Rivers believes in keeping his center right in the middle of the paint you know that’s what Nate belied in as well kind of tibs you know similar thing there you know TS you have it takes like his team has to be really on the ropes before he gets his Center up to the level of the screen you know because he really believes in leaving his rebounder there and so it is interesting to think about what you do with a Kwo you know kongu needing to play with Jaylen and you know B at least works hard as a rebounder but with with Clint on the court one thing he does is he lets you prioritize other skills in the lineup construction you’re using with Clint because he does just consume so much of rebounding responsibility and that’s that is a that gives you a lot more flexibility at how you’re going to build the rest of line at 1 through four and there’s you know probably I don’t know six or seven other other centers in the league maybe that kind of offer that much stability as a rebounder where you can invest in some other skill areas in lineup construction around him yeah like I said it’s only one area like another thing I wanted to make sure we hit on is um the numbers paint this picture I know Wes Morton our mutual friend at peace Dre wrote about this a little bit this week in his capella break down but he was also the best rim protector on the team and that wasn’t just the eye test the numbers paid that picture as well he had better numbers at The Rim than a Kong Wu and Jaylen and Bruno like and that doesn’t mean he was great at that he as we just acknowledge is not the same quite the same deterrent that he used to be at The Rim I think that’s probably safe to say maybe you disagree with me but that’s that’s what I see but but the numbers there are still really good like he was still uh I’m looking at this now more than five percentage points better than average on you know fical percentage all out at The Rim essentially which there’s some noise in there too and um just to say out loud like it’s hard to evaluate the Hawks bigs defensively not just Clint a lot because of how bad the perimeter has been the last couple years that was gonna come up at some point so I’ll just say it out loud now on all of these guys a Kong will come up too when we get to him Jaylen even but I still think that he is a you know not a top five anchor but like I think he’s an average or better defensive anchor R protector like he knows where to be this is I’m preaching to the choir here with you I’ll let you cook on this but there’s also value that people don’t care about but it’s true and knowing how to command a defense calling out things um communication is I know one of your big things and it’s true you sit you sit court side Clint is not the loudest guy in the world but he is always talking he’s a leader of the defense he’s their anchor and I think he can still do that at a pretty high level again he’s not going to be you know pick your number one RI protector in the league or whatever he’s not rud go be defensively at this point but I think if you line up the league starting centers for me he’s still probably above average in what he does in that area as well so again we’re talking about defense first it’s it’s going to get less exciting everybody I promise you for everybody yelling at us us right now that we’re too too positive it’ll get lower as we get going but he’s really good at this still I feel like and I feel like that was I’m glad Wes pointed it out I wanted to point it out too before I even read that is like he’s still pretty deterrent at The Rim just not quite like I know he’s not 75 you know what I mean yeah and I think the other thing that that Hawks fans might have forgotten about this year because in some way is this a season you want to for want to forget you know of course but but this was the first time we we saw some decent sampling of Clint at Center the other team is running one five pick and roll the other team’s trying to make Trey low man deante low man bogy low man or whatever Quinn like nope we’re g to put Clint on whoever’s in the weak side corner we’re GNA use Jaylen to defend in the pick and roll or whoever uh Hunter to defend in the pick and roll and Clint adapted to that role you know we I think we all remember Robert Williams for the Celtics a few years ago kind of being the first one that they really really heavy Clint did great at this this year and that Ma and that really matters for the way you’re kind of thinking forward if if Clint is on this team again next year I know that’s a huge if and I probably talk a little bit about that too but when when they said no Clint we’re gonna we’re gonna kind of make you dedicated Lan no matter he’s in that week so he did great in in that role and I mean he’s probably happy to do it because he’s not way up the floor and kind of having to like navigate space and things like that but I thought Quinn in a way in a way that like say Nate never would done that and it’s not just Nate like Nate’s the generation of coaches that Nate is a part of were all similar to to their defensive philosophy but I thought Quin was it was interesting to see let’s what it see what it looks like with Clint playing low man with a small forward in the weak side corner put him on there let him be the weak side Rim Helper and I I I just think it’s noteworthy that Clint uh adapted to that quite well because I think that that’s a factor for how you see the defense kind of being planned going forward Today’s Show is brought to you by better help we all carry things around that create stress whether it’s big or small whether it keeps things bottled up it starts to actually get to affect us in a negative way therapy is a safe space though to get things off your chest also figure out just how to work through what happens to be weighing you down in your life therapy is helpful for everybody you can learn positive coping skills and how to set better boundaries with therapy and also empowers you to be the best version of yourself it’s not just people that have major trauma in their lives as well I know I have my own stresses when it comes to work in the future Etc and we can also benefit from getting off bar chest I know I can I as well if you’re thinking about starting starting therapy give better help a try right now it’s entirely online it’s designed to be flexible and convenient to your schedule with better help it’s even Sue it to your schedule which is huge if you’re not get not getting a time crunch like I often am in my busy busy daily life all you have to do is a re questionnaire to get math license therapist you can switch therapist anytime for no additional charge get it off your chest right now with the folks at betterhelp and the place to go is betterhelp.com locked on MBA you 10% off your first month with better help one more time the website to visit is better help that’s better HP betterhelp.com lockon NBA and one more kind of set of stats here um he was also still in the top yeah top 12 in the league in total blocks block percentage and blocks per game this year I played a lot of minutes but he wasn’t playing 30 minutes a game he was 26 minutes a game this year like he’s still blocking shots he’s still Rim deterrent which is worth acknowledging and I want to give one broad stat and then I want to ask then just to be in the interest of transparency I want to ask you what Clint can’t do or what Clint is maybe holding the team back on defensively because just just to be 100% Fair on this um essentially the onoff splits um bogie was the onoff king for the Hawks this year which we’ll get it to when we get to bogy at some point most of that was offensively is you might expect for bogie Bogie’s was their offensive unlock this year basically they were awesome when he was on the court it was just okay when it was off the court Clint had the second best on off ratings on the team this year even better than Trey and even better than DJ all those guys um and his were defensively which is not not a big surprise now they weren’t awesome when Clinton Clinton was on the court defensively they were like a little bit below League average 18 19 20th in the league kind of level defensively with clown the court which is not where you want to be but it’s a far craft from where they were when he was off the court when when he was off the court they were the equivalent of the 28th defense in the league so that’s bottom three and that may not seem like much but we’ve all said numerous times if the Hawks could just had the 20th defense against versus the defense that’s that’s a big difference that’s a probably a five six1 difference over the course of the season um and you know again this is there’s always noise in these onoff catchalls but he was a big factor in making them a better defense um you and I joked about this before about uh they were also really good when Hunter and Clint played together the two guys that everyone seems to hate DeAndre and Clint they’ve always been pretty good defensively when those guys play together now it’s not a huge surprise they both but anyway um what do you make of that and also look we have to get into Clint 30 he’s going to be expiring we’ll save the contract St for later on but as far as like where does he hold them back because that’s one of the thing just I got questions all year long I’m sure you did too about like oh I wish we had a better rim protector I wish we had a better this defensively is that just because he couldn’t make up for the guards or like where does clip fall short at this point where is that drop off that we acknowledged earlier show up to where it becomes a problem especially if he if if there’s another one coming because again he’s 30 about 31 it’s probably going to go the wrong way versus the right way from this point forward yeah so there’s there’s several areas as important talk through here and this is this is probably the second that’ll make list happy just we like yeah but number one is I don’t trust him uh in switching 1 through five the way I did like two years ago agreed uh especially on guards if it’s a wing with who has an average ball handling and a little below average self creation he’s you know he’s probably going to be okay in that setting but he’s he’s it’s not like he was a world ever a World beater switching 135 he’s just good enough in situationally you know two years ago in a way that he’s not anymore right getting him way out in space way up the floor that’s not something I think he can really do reliably anymore like I said I don’t want to paint a picture like oh he was like some dream on Prim dream on doing it that’s not what he was even two years ago but he would you know he’d not embarrass himself you know two years ago and you know when big get isolated on guards what they’re mostly trying to do is two things one is bleed the shot clock you know just just bleed the shot clock and the second thing is and this is really just a trend in the last two to three years in the NBA when a center get switched to a guard their number one responsibility their coaches will tell them and this is across the league is force him inside the three-point line we just don’t want to give up a wide open step back three right the the play we all remember right now is you know go getting switched onto Luca and Ry said after the game my job was to push him inside the point line I didn’t do it that is a principle across the the whole league right now right and so can can Clint do that it’s it’s I I think switching 135 of Clinton the floor is is something that’s only occasionally situationally doable depending upon as the other team you know kind of guard him like right now the magic you know we talked about the Magic’s guard offensive guard play there’s like three teams that maybe it’s okay you could do that for a little while but with him I’d stay with 135 switching um the other thing is he like when the season that they made their Conference Finals run their point of attack defense wasn’t awesome that year either and you would see you know ball handers get free run coming straight to the paint then Clint could kind of wall up and step up and kind of wall up and cut that off and have a have a more of an he can’t do that to the level he was doing it then either right and I think that is mileage wear and tear Etc and so he’s he’s going to be a guy that’s more catching that guy as opposed to you know stepping up and kind of cutting that off that’s where some of his fouls are going to come from and so you know those things you know jump out to me even getting to the level um you know that’s an area where the you get to the level you recover his recovery sometimes looks good like oh he looks like he’s feeling good tonight like he he’s moving well tonight a different another game where it looks like he’s well he’s not doesn’t look like he’s moving too great that recovery from the level of the screen is pretty slow and he’s not kind of feeling his best and so those are the three areas I would point out and that does limit you schematically like where AO I think you know AO still has to get better at the 135 switching stuff but he has kind of the raw tools and all that sort of stuff where Clint doesn’t so and what that causes me to think of is if you can’t switch one through five are you really utilizing that guy like Jaylen in the best scheme that you can you want jaylen’s versatility to pop in your defensive scheme you know and there are other you know Defenders too if you’re going to bring along moay you know like a similar thing where you wanted that defensive versatility versatility to kind of be there and that is diminished in a way that it was a couple years ago where I think you can’t do as many different things schematically with Clint because he’s just not that guy anymore and I think I don’t think that’s us being critical Clint I just think that’s us recognizing where he is uh in his journey how many years he’s played many minutes he’s logged all that sort of stuff yeah and there’s a reason why I kind of wanted to leave with that the very top is because there is a difference between like he was a I think still underrated the impact he had on that Conference Finals run the way he was playing defensively that whole year really I I just pulled the numbers up just now like the Hawks with him on the court that year were like a top seven or eight def in the league like they were and this is this is the Hawks this is the Personnel was not fantastic and he was kind of a oneman band and was playing at that level and you know he was 26 at that point like he was kind of in his still still in his prime all that stuff and you know slippage in a few different areas physically and healthwise and I know we played a lot of games this year which is good but we’ve talked around it but there are nights when he has it nights he doesn’t and that’s very obvious to people even on the outside like I think he would acknowledge it with true serum sometimes sometimes uh I’ve asked Clint before he doesn’t like to acknowledge that like at least in an interview with the media like and that’s I think it’s probably because he thinks it’s like an excuse he’s not a big excuse guy he’s pretty Frank with the media him and bogie are kind of the guys that like call it how it is a lot the whole time for the Hawks but I think you can kind of see it with your eyes like whe whether he has it that day physically or not and when and look late in the year and I’m GNA try not to do the late in the year thing too much because I trust me we’ve done it and people will say what about the rest of the year and I’m not saying it’s this is this the nvl but if you see him in his best three-week stretch he was really good at the end of the season when he was clearly feeling good and playing really well and the numbers indicate that but as he gets older you have to think there’ll be even more bad days or off days or whatever that’s that’s the nature of the Beast and as we’ll get into it the very end of his conversation there’s still a world and this is people are going to hate this there’s still a world where Clint is there is still a on the team this coming season and B still their best center that’s very much on the table that’s as a possibility because without doing on in a kongu capsule this year capella was their best center for most of the season I know kongu is more talented he’s younger the flashes all that stuff on the whole this is me talking not you you might disagree capella was still by by the advaned numbers all those he was the he was the better player this year and that might not happen again moving forward they might trade him all those things but um he’s no longer a guy how am I going to say this he’s no longer a guy that you build your system around you might have to in certain ways because of his limitations but you’re not building your defensive system around him to Accent his positives is that is that too broad of a way to put that because I think I think way we’re talking about it is like four years ago you could have just said you know what our defensive plan is Clint being a monster that’s very simplistic but on purpose now you can’t you can’t you can’t do that he could be a part of the machine he could be a big Cog in a good defensive machine but he cannot be the machine anymore yeah I think I agree um and the thing for me is like guys at the very very top positionally they outright like rescue possessions like a a defensive possession is a mess it’s in the ditch whatever word you want to use and they step in and just absolutely kind of just pull it out like in individually hero with their own individual heroics Clint’s not really going to do that anymore I mean he might do it I don’t know 20 times across the whole season where you know he just kind of has the juice for that possession or whatever kind of shows up but to your point you can’t Bank on that right that’s not what he is anymore that’s not what he’s going to be um and then the other part of that is you know how many I mean I feel like we’ve been how many times we talking about what’s the decision with a what should it be like Clint Clint blocking Ana you know we’re still doing that it’s been four years what Ana be for their along and it’s funny because I remember on ail 29 I want to say in January I made the comment at one point they just need to start in yaka because yuck and Jaylen need to play together and we really get but yeah and we we really didn’t get to see that happen because Clint had a little bit of injury absence and then Anda missed a lot of time late in the season so I don’t think it would have happened I my if you’re like Glen was could have done that I don’t think he would have done that because I mean even when yaka was there he was still closing games with Clint and even when they were losing by eight or 10 points the last four minutes of the game which most coaches put a like the Hawks really have one but put as much shooting on the floor and yet is a better shooter right and and Quinn did not do that Quinn did not go in that in that direction and so it’s just you know so for me like I what the Baseline expectation coach is I want a center defensively that’s not going to make me lose sleep they’re just going to cover all the basics hit all the fundamentals they’re going to keep us organized communicate you know all that sort of stuff and kind of give me that Baseline stuff so for me I think Clint gives you that every single game some games it’s feeling better he pops a little more has a little more impact some games not as much and that’s just where he is I think with his body at this point in scoup yeah I actually forgot I’m glad you mentioned the thing about him starting and look my position on starting versus not starting it’s not as big of a deal as people want to think that it is that’s my general position but and I said this on the show but if anybody missed it the only time in the history of the Aang capella relationship in which I thought the the coach that day or that stretch might start aong over capella healthy was this year in February because Clint had been out if you remember this the way it happened was Clint had been out and Ana had been playing really well and it was a very if they were ever going to do it with Clint on the roster it was a very natural time because W because they could have spun it you know you know what I mean you go to Clinton and say look we’re play we’re playing well oh was playing great you take it easy and it would have been the only logical time and I thought they might do it I really did I was asking around about it just kind of poking behind the scenes and then as soon as that conversation happened for two days anaka got hurt and that that was it so we’ll never know if they would have done it but that’s the way I put it I was like that’s it was the first time in four years that they even had might have even had the conversation because until then I know fans hate it capella is the starter he’s always been the starter like coaches love Clint that’s the thing and we’ll get we’ll get into the offense and we’ll paint a less Rosy picture I promise you but you mentioned it before with you know Nate Quinn it wouldn’t matter who it was coaches are predisposed to to loving a player like Clint who is going to execute he doesn’t need the ball he doesn’t you know he he he just wants to do what everybody wants him to do everybody they’re all NBA players they all have OS but Clint just does what he’s asked to do and anchors and communicates and all that stuff so um maybe maybe they’ll change this year I mean I will be kind of surprised if they go into another year with Clinton Anda as the two cators but they might and then we’ll get into October Glenn and I’ll ask you in October hey who’s gonna start at Center but we and Clinton on and we’re gonna do the whole thing again but uh yeah I can’t believe we’re still doing this but alas it is what it just never ends the party never ends if you I mean I swear to you if you ask me the night of the draft in 2000 the covid draft if they would still have Clinton Nea on the team in June 2024 I would have told you there was like a 1% chance if that and here we are here we are unbelievable yeah yeah I know Ian part we T we talked about the last season part of it is that their point attack defense is still bad they need 48 minutes of at least solid defensive play at Center you know they can’t you know and we we talked about Bruno earlier but Bruno is you I talk about I don’t think bro is a guy that can step into a starter role if you somebody gets hurt you know I think he’s your Tob you know kind of he’s better than a third Center not quite you know quite as good as a 2A or whatever so you know and I we all know like they kind of need to figure out like what they think their plan is going to be before they make their draft pick you know in four weeks or whatever time it is now ESP ESP especially because two of the potential draes are potential centers in in sa and King and so I’m with mean is there a chance Clint is traded on draft night like I mean you know yes yes I’ll answer that question yes there is there’s a chance yes yeah so so there there’s a lot of pending decisions around this position for sure even right [Music] now all right that is all for part one of two with my friend Willis talking about Clint capella and part two should be available in your same podcast feed right now so go ahead and click over to that podcast and finish out this conversation please subscribe to the show on Apple Spotify YouTube Etc follow the show on Twitter SLX loton Hawks follow me there as well at BTR Roland I do appreciate everyone listening to the podcast one more time one more plug I should say for part two it’s available for you right now and we’ll see you all next time

Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) hosts episode No. 1730 of the Locked on Hawks podcast, and he is joined by Glen Willis (@willis_glen) for Part 1 of a 2-part discussion. The conversation continues the 2024 Atlanta Hawks player capsule series with a deep dive into Clint Capela, including strengths, weaknesses, future considerations, roster building factors, and much more.

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOHawks?sid=YouTube

Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNBA

#AtlantaHawks #NBA #TraeYoung

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!

LinkedIn

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNBA. Terms and conditions apply.

BetterHelp

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDONNBA today to get 10% off your first month.

eBay Motors

For parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotors.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.

PrizePicks

Go to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnba and use code lockedonnba for a first deposit match up to $100!

Gametime

Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.

FanDuel

FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning GUARANTEED That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – win or lose! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)