Hawks 2024-25 player profile: Clint Capela returns to anchor interior

Just five players from the Atlanta Hawks team that made the Eastern Conference Finals in 2020-21 remain on the roster. All of them have been mired in trade speculation to some degree in recent months.

None more so than starting center Clint Capela, the next entrant in out player profile series.

Capela is entering his 11th NBA season and his fifth season with the Hawks. Now as much as any point, though, his future with the team seems uncertain.

Clint Capela 2024-25 player profile: Big man’s value most obvious in absence

2023-24 stats: 11.5 PPG/10.6 RPG/1.5 BPG/1.2 APG/ – .571/.000/.631
2024-25 projection: 11.0 PPG/10.0 RPG/1.3 BPG/1.0 APG – .610/.000/.632

Capela averaged a double-double for the seventh consecutive season in 2023-24. He logged 38 of them, the 13th-most in the NBA on the season. Capela ranked 11th in points-rebounds double-doubles.

His free throw percentage was the second-highest mark of his career and he crossed the 70-game threshold for the fourth time.

That is essentially where things turn statistically for Capela.

His rebounding numbers worsened for the third straight season; since he led the league in the category in – 2020-21. Capela also shot 57.1% from the floor and posted a 59.0% true shooting clip.

Those are the second and third worst marks of his career. His 2023-24 durability seems like an outlier. He also had one more double-double than Trae Young who played 54 games.

Capela’s limited offensive range also hurts the Hawks.

With the trade rumors continuing to swirl around him, and his expiring contract, Capela's time with the Hawks appears far closer to ending than continuing beyond the 2024-25 season. But moving on is not without risks.

Clint Capela’s contributions felt most in his absence

There has long been a push for the Hawks to replace Capela with his backup, Onyeka Okongwu, who offers better offensive versatility and unlocks a greater ability to switch defensively.

Okongwu (10.2 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 1.3 APG, 1.1 BPG) is also on a longer contract in Year 1 of a four-year, $61.9 million pact while Capela’s two-year $46 million deal is expiring.

Moving on from Capela could leave the Hawks perilously vulnerable. 

He finished with the third-best on-off differential on the team at plus-3.2, per Cleaning The Glass. Okongwu had the fourth-worst among the returning Hawks, ranking ahead of Young, Garrison Mathews, and Mouhamed Gueye who logged 56 minutes all season.

Capela is tied for the second-tallest player on the Hawks’ roster at 6-foot-10. He – along with Gueye – is behind only Cody Zeller (6-foot-11).

The Hawks list Okongwu at 6-foot-10 as well but that has been disputed.

Without a legitimate replacement in place, the Hawks risk undoing a lot more harm than some might anticipate if they moved Capela. However, his looming contract situation could call for them to rip the bandage off rather than risk being left empty-handed.