The 8 Greatest Rockets in history, ranked by Player Efficiency Rating (PER)

7. Clint Capela- 22

Clint Capela can make a claim that most other Rockets players in the Daryl Morey regime can’t: he was drafted in the first-round and remained with the franchise. Capela was a traditional five who thrived in the pick-and-roll alongside James Harden (and later Chris Paul).

This proved to be challenging for opponents to stifle, due to Harden's offensive gravity and heliocentric style of play.

The 6-foot-11 big was also a really good rim protector on a Rockets team that didn't quite have that ability, as the roster was comprised of 3-and-D wings year in and year out.

Capela showed steady improvement, averaging 12.6 points and 8.1 rebounds in his first season as a starter, followed by 13.9 points and 10.8 rebounds in 2017-18, and 16.6 points and 12.7 rebounds in 2018-19.

In Capela’s final season with the Rockets, he averaged 13.9 points and 13.8 rebounds and even registered multiple 20-rebound games. Capela had multiple games in which he outplayed dominant superstar big men, such as former New Orleans Pelicans big man Anthony Davis and Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl Anthony-Towns, the latter of which occurred in the 2018 postseason.

The Rockets gave Capela a five-year contract extension worth $90 million in 2018, only to turn around and trade him less than two seasons later. And although the franchise made the move to unlock Russell Westbrook offensively, allowing him to take advantage of offensive mismatches, the trade removed James Harden's lob threat. And the Rockets never gave him a new lob threat, making it a bit easier to defend him.

Furthermore, the Rockets didn't have any size, which was evident during their Western Conference Semifinals matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, who eventually won the championship and had an abundance of size between Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard.


Capela has morphed into a serviceable player for the Atlanta Hawks and even netted a contract extension, as his selflessness and dominance on the glass were much-needed ingredients for a Hawks team that surprisingly reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021.