Rockets rumors: Clint Capela is frustrated over contract negotiations

Clint Capela is reportedly frustrated with the Houston Rockets over contract negotiations. He’s hoping to sign a larger deal this offseason.

Contract negotiations between Clint Capela and the Houston Rockets have not gone according to plans. The team has publicly stated that they’d like to retain Capela, but they want to keep the center on a budget friendly contract.

After meeting with the front office on July 1, Capela sent out a tweet of a sad face emoji. At the time, many assumed the tweet meant that he didn’t receive any max offers.

It appears to be true that the meeting didn’t go well for Capela. According to Kelly Iko of the Rockets Wire, there is a big difference in valuation between the two parties. Capela feels like he is worth more than what Houston is offering him.

The Rockets didn’t waste any time re-signing Chris Paul, who officially inked his four-year, $160 million deal on Sunday. However, Clint Capela is a restricted free agent, so he can’t just freely sign a deal with another team.

The Rockets want to retain Capela and they plan to match any offer sheet that he receives. They’ve already made a $4.7 million qualifying offer to Capela, who obviously wants more. Capela will go into the market and look for a bigger deal, but most teams either don’t need a center or don’t have cap room.

The Rockets are content to sit back and let the market set the price for Capela and then match the offer. If no team sends a bigger deal his way, Capela will have no choice but to accept Houston’s qualifying offer. The Rockets won’t offer Capela a bigger deal because doing so would be bidding against themselves.

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Executives around the league know that Houston plans on retaining Capela, which is why he hasn’t received any offers yet. With a limited budget, the Rockets are playing their cards very carefully in contract negotiations. It could take some time, but all signs point toward Capela re-signing with Houston this summer.