Is this farewell to the long time starting center?
Father Time is undefeated, and he might be winning the battle over the Swiss international center that Hawks fans know well.
Clint Capela began the season as the starting center, but by the end of the season, he was but a spectator like the rest of us.
Capela has been stamped as the starting center for 4.5 years since the beginning of the 2020-21 season, but injuries and declining performance saw Capela pushed to a bench role for the first time since his second year in the NBA.
This season, he logged the fewest minutes per game also since his sophomore season. On 21.4 minutes per contest, Capela averaged 8.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game.
But for the second consecutive year, his finishing near the rim was shockingly poor, and he finished with his worst true shooting percentage (TS%) — again — since his second season at just 56.4%.
The shame of it all is that he began the season playing like his usual self. He was as strong a rim protector and rebounder as he’s ever been since 2021 for the first couple of months of the season. But from the moment I wrote this, I put a curse on Capela’s physical capability to hold up for the remainder of the season.
My bad.
The numbers paint a picture of a precipitous plummet. His defended field goal percentage differential (a decent proxy for rim protection) ticked up a point from October-December to January forward. More starkly, his plus/minus per 100 possessions went from a solid +2.8 to a ghastly -14.1 across the same time split.
That’s no typo. The Hawks were outscored by about 14 points per possession when Clint Capela was on the floor in the year 2025 of our Lord.
And so, on January 20, Quin Snyder penned in Onyeka Okongwu into the starting lineup for the first time and ‘Double O’ never looked back.
“I think that I am a starter, but also I think that I’m a player that can play a role,” Capela had to say about what the switch means for his career going forward.
Capela will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, so his time in Atlanta may have come to a close. With that backdrop, he reflected on his time in Atlanta thus far.
“It was my fifth year here,” said Capela. “First year was good and then it started being a little bit harder. Different coaches, different philosophies. Some things change. Maybe it’s going to work for the better or not. And you learn from it.”
Of course, there were injury issues that plagued him this season, even if age and career workload largely contributed to the backslide. Clint Capela missed nine games in February bridging the All-Star Weekend break with back spasms.
After working his way back into the rotation, he hurt his finger at some point in March. Later, we got word that he suffered a ligament injury in the fourth metacarpal of his left hand.
An @emoryhealthcare injury update:
Following an MRI at the Emory Sports Medicine Complex on Mar. 17, center Clint Capela has been diagnosed with a ligament injury in the fourth metacarpal of his left hand. Capela will undergo rehabilitation and will be re-evaluated in… pic.twitter.com/oh8qY3uj6w
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) March 21, 2025
About that finger injury, Capela gave the public an update, saying, “my finger feels much better. I’m happy to be able to do stuff on the court. I’m probably like two weeks away from being back at 100%.”
“I’m always saying that injuries are a part of the season too,” he continued. “It’s part of a career. All you can do is just go through it. As much time as you’re on the court and train as hard as you can, your going to spend as much time in the weight room and rehab. Do the best you can. It’s hard. But it’s the reality of it.”
Now, as a 30-year-old free agent with a rapidly declining offensive touch, declining defensive range, and a litany of injuries in his past, Clint Capela may have to settle for a reduced role going forward — whether here or elsewhere in the NBA.
Despite these issues, he still pulled down over 14 rebounds per 36 minutes this season — his 14.4 rebounds per 36 minutes would have ranked in the top five if he qualified for minutes — and he remains a smart and hardworking defender.
I find it hard to believe he can’t at least be a solid backup center for almost any team in this weak free agent center class. But it increasingly seems like that will be somewhere other than Atlanta for next season and beyond.