Rockets veteran already looks finished just one month into the season

You may not remember when the Houston Rockets re-acquired Clint Capela in the offseason, because he wasn't exactly the headliner of the deal, which also included Kevin Durant. After five years as a member of the Atlanta Hawks, Capela is back in Houston and was expected to compete with Steven Adams for backup center minutes behind Alperen Sengun.

So far, that hasn't been much of a competition, and it might cease to be a competition at all if things continue this way. Adams is more than doubling Capela's minutes right now (21.7 to 9.8, respectively) and watching them both on the court, it's not much surpriuse why.

Adams has been considerably better than Capela thus far, as the latter has definitely lost a step or two since his first go-round with the team. Plus, Adams may be the perfect complement to Sengun, the offensive hub of this team, which gives him another leg up over his fellow backup big man.

Clint Capela is losing his spot in Rockets rotation

It may not be surprising that Adams has solidified his backup five spot early in the year, but it's a little surprising that Capela appears to be a non-factor for this team.

He hasn't been the double-double machine he once was for a while, but he was at least playable last season, when he averaged 8 points, 8 rebounds, and a block per game in over 21 minutes per night. He lost his starting spot to the younger and bouncier Onyeka Okongwu, but remained a regular part of the rotation when he was healthy.

As it stands, Capela might be the break-in-case-of-emergency option in the Rockets frontcourt. That's still an important role for someone to play, for the record — some added insurance never hurts anyone. But anyone expecting Capela to be anything close to the player he was in Houston in the mid-2010s will be sorely mistaken. If he can be called on in a pinch when other players are hurt or in foul trouble, that's a fine role for him at this stage of his career.