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It’s a rough go for Clint Capela right now. As Jeremy posted earlier, he’s currently the topic of some heavy trade rumors, with Adrian Wojnarowski (as good a source there is) reporting that the Houston Rockets were talking to several Eastern Conference teams about a trade for the Swiss big man, most prominently the Atlanta Hawks, and now more recently mentioned, the Boston Celtics.
ESPN Sources: Another team engaged with the Houston Rockets in trade talks for center Clint Capela: The Boston Celtics.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 3, 2020
And now, according to a report today coming from The Athletic’s Kelly Iko, Capela’s heel injury looks to be much worse than initially thought and could even be full-blown plantar fasciitis, an injury which could potentially last all season. According to Iko:
“From the looks of it, it doesn’t sound like this is a day-to-day situation for Capela, either. There’s a growing sense internally he could be out for a while, at least until after the All-Star break. Capela is said to be in pain daily, struggling to run early Friday morning before the Mavericks’ game. A collective coaching decision was made that day to rest him until he fully recovers.”
Fasciitis is one of those possibly lingering injuries that doesn’t go away and generally only gets better with substantial rest— the kind that only really happens in the offseason. Meaning that even when Capela does come back, he could still be dealing with this issue in some capacity.
Of course, the more conspiracy-minded might think this is even more of a tell that Clint is about to be moved; with the Rockets hoping not to re-aggravate a possible injury ahead of the trade deadline. Especially after a CNBC report from earlier today characterizing a Capela deal as a near-certainty.
“They’re done with Capela,” an anonymous NBA exec told CNBC. The same report also mentions that new owner Tillman Fertitta is looking to actually shed salary still, so how these pieces fit together now is just speculation on anyone’s part.
But until we find out what’s up with Capela and Houston’s plans at the trade deadline, small-ball seems to be working for the Rockets, at least temporarily, as they’ve won two games in a row and three of their last four. With all trades needing to be completed by this Thursday at 2:00pm CST, we won’t have long to wait to find out what Houston plans to do.