Rockets GM Rafael Stone on the Capela signing: “Clint just adds something we don’t have, in terms of being a center who can move a little bit easier on the perimeter… and also as a lob threat.”
At face value, the Houston Rockets and veteran center Clint Capela didn’t look like a match entering the NBA’s 2025 free agency window.
Capela has been a quality starter for most of his career, and he’s just 31 years old. The Rockets have two entrenched centers in Alperen Sengun and the recently re-signed Steven Adams, and Sengun was an All-Star last season. So, the only role available appeared to be at third string on the depth chart, which normally isn’t a regular member of a team’s playing rotation.
In usual circumstances, that third-string role wouldn’t be sufficient for a starting-level player at that position, and the team might lack the incentive to invest heavily in it.
But the 2025 Rockets aren’t operating under usual circumstances. Houston found success late in the 2024-25 season and in the playoffs utilizing “double big” lineups with both Sengun and Adams. Should that carry over into 2025-26, that would provide more opportunities for a third center than would normally be there.
At Monday’s press conference recapping 2025 offseason deals, general manager Rafael Stone confirmed to Rockets Wire that the plan is indeed for Houston to run more double-big lineups next season.
“For sure,” Stone said when asked if signing Capela signaled a willingness to run more two-center lineups. “We loved that lineup once we discovered it last year, and we thought it was really, really effective for us. Also, Clint just adds something we don’t have, in terms of being a center who can move a little bit easier on the perimeter… and also as a lob threat (on offense).”
“Finally, we just think depth is super important. As we’re trying to make it through the season, we don’t want there to be huge drop-offs. We did not anticipate going into free agency that we would be able to get Clint, but we were ecstatic when that materialized.”
To Stone’s point on depth, Adams played in just 58 regular-season games (at 13.7 minutes per game) last season, and back-to-backs were generally not an option. Like Capela, he’s also 31 years old, and he has more than a decade of NBA mileage on his body.
It is worth noting that some of the 2024-25 restrictions on Adams were because it was his first season back from knee surgery, and he often referred to it as a two-year recovery process. He should be fresher and more available in 2025-26, at least on paper.
Yet, it’s probably unrealistic to expect the Rockets to play him major regular-season minutes, particularly if they want him to be at his best in the playoffs. So, the presence of Capela should allow the Rockets to “load manage” Adams when needed, along with providing valuable insurance in the event of any injuries.
Even so, it’s still unusual to see an NBA team roster three starting-caliber centers. But in a situation where a team is open to playing two at once — and one where two of the three are now in their 30s and have more than a decade of NBA mileage on them — it makes more sense.
