What Clint Capela’s Arrival Means For The Atlanta Hawks
By Deke Lloyd
The Atlanta Hawks made a big, literally, move last night when the team acquired Clint Capela in a four-team mega-trade. Let’s explore what Capela’s arrival means for the Hawks.
The news broke overnight that a four-team trade involving the Hawks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets, and Denver Nuggets was taking place that had 12-players as part of the deal. The trade is the most expensive trade in 20 years, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The two highlights of the trade were Clint Capela coming to Atlanta and Robert Covington moving to Houston.
The Atlanta Hawks, finally, got the REAL center the team has been longing for in Clint Capela. After rumors of Andre Drummond’s imminent trade fell through, the Capela talks began to pick up speed. Now, with his arrival in Atlanta, the Hawks are starting to build a legitimate team around Trae Young.
The Hawks have been in search of a big man since Dwayne Dedmon took off in free agency for Sacramento. Alex Len did a pretty good job, in a small sample size, but injuries have kept the big man sidelined off and on this season. Damian Jones has filled in at times but is no legit starting center. Bruno Fernando is a rookie who has a lot of learning and fine-tuning to do for now, which is fine. John Collins has played some at the 5 this season. With Clint Capela coming to Atlanta, the Hawks have a real center now.
At age 25, Clint Capela is the perfect match for the Hawks young core of Trae, Kevin Huerter, and John Collins. Capela comes in at a polar opposite situation from Houston where he was on a team that was at the top of the Western Conference and pushed the peak-dynasty Warriors to seven games in the playoffs. Capela knows about winning, which is something the young guys in Atlanta haven’t experienced too often.
Bringing in Capela means John Collins will get to revert back to his natural, most comfortable position, power forward. The move will give Collins a break on defense from guarding the other teams 5, and which should allow him to focus more of his energy on the offensive side. There will still be times for Collins to slot back in at center when Coach Lloyd Pierce wants to play smaller lineups, but it seems that Pierce would prefer to play Collins in the spot he’s most comfortable.
The addition of Capela should be music to Trae Young’s ears. Trae, now, has another rim-running big man he can toss assists to like Lob City 2.0. It’s unclear how Collins and Capela will perform on the floor together, but, for Trae, it seems like have another big man to link with will help Trae continue to grow and evolve on the offensive side of the ball.
The Hawks are in action tonight against one of their trading partners, Minnesota, however, Clint Capela won’t be available for tonight’s game. The Hawks waived Chandler Parsons this afternoon to create roster space to complete the four-team trade. That means we all should be seeing Clint Capela in a Hawks jersey sooner than later. It’s an exciting time for the Hawks.