Lack of presence and a significant decline in form! Shouldn t the Rockets sign back this veteran insider?

In the previous NBA regular season, the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, playing at home, narrowly defeated the Houston Rockets 125-124 after a hard-fought double overtime, making a good start to the new NBA regular season.

In this game, veteran inside player Clint Capela, whom the Rockets just signed back this summer, made his first appearance since returning to the team. Capela played 7 minutes and 51 seconds, making 1 of 1 shots, 2 of 2 free throws, 4 points, 1 steal, and 1 turnover, with a plus-minus of +5. Capela's ability on the offensive end is limited and he is unable to take on more responsibilities, and he is somewhat of a drag on the team. Capela's performance on the defensive end is also so-so, and he has no particularly outstanding highlights. He also has no good effect in rebound protection and interior defense. Overall, Capela's effect on the court is very average, and his playing time is obviously limited because of this, and the team does not dare to let him appear on the court too much. In addition, the team also has two outstanding inside players appearing in the starting lineup at the same time, and his position in the team is also somewhat embarrassing.

In the NBA regular season last season, Capela played a total of 82 games. He was affected by injuries and played a total of 55 times on behalf of the Atlanta Hawks, including 41 games as a starter. The average playing time reached 21.4 minutes per game, with averages of 8.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.6 steals, and 1.1 blocks. There were also 0.9 turnovers and 1.9 fouls. The field goal percentage was 55.9% and the free throw percentage was 53.6%. Since playing the game against the Philadelphia 76ers on March 10 this year, Capela has been exempt from the game due to injuries. He also missed the team's play-off games. In the previous preseason games, Capela made a total of 3 appearances, averaging 18.7 minutes per game. He averaged 7.3 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, and 0.7 blocks per game. He also had 0.3 turnovers and 2.7 fouls. He shot 62.5% from the field and 50% from the free throw line.

This summer, Capela became a free agent. After the free market opened, the Rockets quickly offered him a three-year contract with a total amount of US$21.5 million. In fact, the Rockets acquired Capela through a sign-and-trade this summer. Because of this, the team was hard-hit by the No. 1 rich line. As a result, everyone can feel that Capela's function and role in the team are very limited, and it is indeed difficult for him to play a big role. The most critical thing is that Capela's signing directly caused the Rockets' salary space to be locked up. Now the Rockets are seriously short of players at the No. 1 position, and the team no longer has enough salary to sign any more players. Judging from Capela's status in the team and his current status, it may be enough for the Rockets to sign a veteran center with a minimum salary. Why did they sign Capela?