A small bit of national writer intel.
Clint Capela is in his fifth season as the starting center for your Atlanta Hawks. Despite the Hawks splashing the sixth overall pick way back in the 2020 draft on someone thought be his eventual successor, Onyeka Okongwu, Capela has since held him off in the years since and even started in all 25 of the Hawks’ games this season.
In those 25 games, Capela has averaged 10.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.0 blocks in 22.5 minutes per game, his fewest minutes per game since his second year in the league. Still, Capela’s defense remains a large reason why the team has bounced back in that area this season (alongside Dyson Daniels and others, of course).
But Capela doesn’t always close games for this team, and at the age of 30 he doesn’t possess the same range or lift we’re used to on the court. And while he’s regained some of his touch around the basket so far this season, his limitations on offense can, at times, rear their ugly heads.
And so, he’s surely been tossed in many a trade machine by fans looking to upgrade that position. And his expiring $22.3 million contract and upcoming free agency increase the urgency to cash in while you can.
But what about the other expiring veteran center on the roster? If Capela clearly has value to this team given the minutes allotment, would Larry Nance Jr. then be expendable?
Nance turns 32 on the first of January and makes roughly $10.4 million this year. He’s long been a solid backup big man who, this season, has shot extremely well from beyond the arc. But he’s only appeared in 10 games this season, largely cast out of the rotation when all of Jalen Johnson, Capela, and Okongwu are healthy.
Is there any interest from around the league for either of them? And would the Hawks be willing to part with either of them? Well, I person have no insight there, but national insiders just may have some intel nuggets.
This from Marc Stein, NBA insider, in a recent on his substack blog, The Stein Line, sheds some light:
The Hawks continue to rebuff all trade interest in versatile veteran forward Larry Nance Jr. … just as they did throughout the offseason after Nance arrived in Atlanta alongside defensive ace Dyson Daniels in the Dejounte Murray trade.
Clint Capela is regarded as the Atlanta big man most available this Trade Season. The Knicks explored the prospect of acquiring Capela (who is playing on an expiring $22.3 million contract) before completing their late-September trade to land Karl-Anthony Towns from Minnesota.
Now, I don’t imagine the Hawks would look to shake up their roster this far out from the Thursday, February 6, 2025 deadline. But one date to watch before then is December 15, when players acquired this offseason like Cody Zeller, who has yet to appear in a single game, can first be moved.
What say you? Should the Hawks deal one of their centers?