Rockets will unquestionably regret Clint Capela signing come January

The Houston Rockets made some significant upgrades this offseason. But when it comes to Clint Capela, I'm just not sure if the team is going to have as much use for him as they may have initially thought.

Now, the front office and the coaching staff have their own vision for these things. I'm not in meetings at the team's practice facility, so I can't say for sure. But just from an outside perspective and using logical reasoning, it would certainly appear that the Rockets have overloaded themselves at the center position just a bit.

I say that because Capela is essentially going to be the third-string center for this team, and there's not a whole lot of reason to think otherwise. Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams already have more recent tenure in Houston, even if Clint was part of this organization in previous years.

If you want to argue Capela's still a better player than Adams, that's fine. But I still think the already-established cohesion with the rest of this roster is going to matter in how much playing time Clint gets handed as well.

Clint Capela will likely be in a limited role in Houston

And here's arguably the biggest thing: we know that Ime Udoka is going to want to continue running some two-big lineups during the regular season. Perhaps there will be some experimentation there, but it's important to remember that Capela did technically get removed from the Atlanta Hawks' starting lineup this past season.

That alone should be enough to give us pause when thinking about Clint's role on this team. Of course, some fans are going to love having him around purely for nostalgia's sake. The last time Clint suited up for Houston was back in early 2020, before he was traded to Atlanta. That harkens the mind back to the James Harden days for many.

My best guess here is that Udoka will use Capela in a somewhat limited role. Think like 15 to 20 minutes per night maximum in lineups where his rebounding and pick-and-roll skills can be maximized. Clint was already playing only around 21 minutes a night for the Hawks last season, so don't expect that number to go any higher.

Overall, this was still a fine swing for the Rockets to take on a familiar face. His contract, at three years and $21.1 million remaining, is pretty tradeable if they decide they want to move on. But just don't expect this coming season to look like the Clint Capela experience of old.