3 Improvements Clint Capela must make for the Atlanta Hawks in 2024

Clint Capela needs to focus on his health to get the most out of next season.

One of the reasons that Capela struggled on the defensive end for a portion of the season was that his body was just nit right. He was a step slow, or he was just not in the picture when the team needed him. There were times you could have been forgiven for thinking that the Hawks had gone back to pre-Capela times on defense.

When Capela's body is right, he is one of the best defenders in the league. He has been known to struggle to defend Joel Embiid at times but let's be honest, there is not a player alive who does not struggle to defend Embiid at times. When healthy, Capela is able to close lanes and protect the rim, which in turn, helps his perimeter defenders

This was one of the bigger deficiencies for the Hawks all last season. They were down the bottom of the NBA in terms of perimeter defense for most of the season. It is easy to blame Young and Dejounte Murray for this but the entire team needs to take the load.

Still, thanks to losing the play-in tournament, the Hawks and Capela gained an extra few weeks of the offseason. This may not sound like much but three weeks of rehabilitation, compared to three weeks of wear and tear has the potential to be significant. Let's hope that we see the benefits of this throughout the 2024-25 NBA season.