By: KL Chouinard
When the Hawks roll out their starting lineup and organize their defense, Clint Capela is the keystone. He blocks shots. He alters shots. He gets steals. When an opposing ballhandler gets past the first line of defense, Clint steps up as the second line. In addition to all of that, Capela ends defensive possessions by grabbing rebounds. He does exactly what one expects from a traditional center anchoring a defense in the paint.
Last season, Capela finished sixth in the voting for Defensive Player of the Year. This season, through games played Thursday, he ranks third in the NBA in rebounds per game (12.2) and 14th in blocks (1.3). Clearly, he understood the assignment.
The Hawks also have the second-ranked offense in the NBA: 113.6 points per 100 possessions. When he doesn't have the ball in his hands, Capela does important work screening for Trae Young and rolling to the rim to keep defenses honest. This season, however, Capela has improved most at taking care of the ball when it is in his hands.
185 NBA players have played 1000 or more minutes this season. (Let's use 1000 minutes because we're about two-thirds of the way through the season, and 1500 minutes is the threshold for qualifying for the NBA's end-of-season statistic leaderboards.) Of those 185 players, Capela has the fewest turnovers per 36 minutes: 0.7. He has just 25 turnovers in 1295 minutes!
In short, that's an amazing number. Typically, the players who commit the fewest turnovers are perimeter players who do more shooting than passing – i.e., shooting guards and the occasional small forward. To wit, look at the players at the top of the low-turnover leaderboard with Capela: Reggie Bullock, Grayson Allen, Pat Connaughton, Mikal Bridges, Garrison Mathews, Matisse Thybulle, Cam Johnson, and Malik Beasley. It's a list chock full of perimeter players who shoot and score and aren't counted on for a whole lot of playmaking.
There are usually turnovers built into playing the center position. Pick-and-roll passes bounce off hands. Pivot feet slide for travelling whistles. Inside-out passes get deflected in heavy paint traffic. Defenders set up roadblocks to draw offensive charges. Clint has avoided nearly all of it.
"Last year, I was a little aggressive," he said. "This year, I'm trying to find the guys and just playing really unselfish and making the most simple play."
One particular spot on the floor where Capela has looked more comfortable as a passer has been out behind the free throw line. When teams play switching defenses, John Collins ends up in situations where he wants the ball in the post against a smaller defender. If the defender tries to "front" Collins, Capela steps up with his lofty passing angle.
"Usually, I do that whenever they try to deny (John Collins). Whenever the guard is trying to throw the ball to the post in JC, I come up top to make the triangle pass. My passes have been pretty good too from that angle."
Capela also ranks seventh in the NBA in field-goal percentage: 58.0 percent. He keeps defenders off balance with mix of left-hand and right-hand finishes.
"Yeah, I've always been more comfortable with my left going to the rim. But I'm a right-hand shooter. I actually eat with my left hand. That's what's weird."
In a bit of ambidexterity, Capela writes with his right hand but he learned to eat with his other hand as a kid.
"Whenever we set the table, I've been taught to put the fork on the left and knife on the right. That's how we did it in Switzerland. I remember that at first I was able to do it with both, but I got used to the left."
Clint can do some eating on the court with that hand, too.