After 5-and-a-half seasons, the Houston Rockets said goodbye to Clint Capela yesterday in a blockbuster three-team trade that brought them wing forward Robert Covington.
Covington is expected to thrive alongside Harden and Westbrook, but there are concerns about what the trade means for their roster going forward. With Capela gone, who will play center for the Rockets?
Apparently, they have a plan that involves P.J. Tucker.
To be clear, the Rockets aren't searching for a starting center. They're playing small-ball and rolling with PJ Tucker at the 5. But they need a big to throw at Nikola Jokic, Anthony Davis, etc. in the playoffs. https://t.co/y6d8l9HnWG
— Tim MacMahon (@BannedMacMahon) February 5, 2020
The Rockets are no stranger to play small-ball. Even when they had quality bigs, going small was a consistent strategy for them. Playing without a center at all, though, is unprecedented.
It shouldn’t be debatable that 6-5 forward P.J. Tucker would struggle against much larger and dominant bigs like Anthony Davis, Nikola Jokic, and Rudy Gobert in the postseason. They will likely have to find some kind of size to go up against those guys, but their plan is clear.
Daryl Morey and the Rockets are rolling the dice and going all-in on their modern style of basketball. It will be interesting to see if it works out for them.
