The Houston Rockets and restricted free agent Clint Capela have agreed to a deal, the team announced on Friday.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the deal will keep the center in Houston for the next five seasons.
Houston has reached an agreement with Clint Capela on a 5-year, $90m extension, sources tell ESPN.
The deal is a win-win for both sides as the Rockets risked having the big man become an unrestricted free agent in 2019, if Capela would have signed the one-year qualifying offer. Instead, the center opted for the security of a long term deal.
Capela’s work habits and diligence have paid off handsomely for the Rockets, who selected Capela with the 25th pick in 2014.
Once Dwight Howard’s understudy, Capela’s rapid rise eventually led to him replacing Howard as the Rockets’ starting center and he became the ideal pick-and-roll partner for James Harden, who developed a spectacular chemistry with his 23-year-old big man.
Capela’s confidence in his fourth season has been off the charts, as he posted career highs in minutes (27.5), points (13.9), rebounds (10.8) and blocks (1.9). After posting 25 double-doubles in his first three seasons combined, Capela registered 42 this season. As a rookie, Capela took two shots a game. Now it’s nine. He averaged only two points per game during his rookie season.
The Rockets were 42-3 during the regular season when Capela, Harden and Chris Paul were on the floor together.
