NBA Offseason Rumors: Analyst Names Atlanta's Toughest Free Agent Decision This Summer

The Atlanta Hawks season ended with a play-in tournament loss to the Miami Heat and now they head into what is going to be an interesting offseason. The offseason got more murkier with the front office changes which saw former GM Landry Fields relieved of his duties and Onsi Saleh promoted to general manager.

This was a mostly successful season for the Hawks, even if they did not make the playoffs. This was a young team that had a lot of unknowns heading into the season, but a lot of those questions got answered. Dyson Daniels was the perfect backcourt teammate with Trae Young and showed why he is one of the best defenders in the league while improving by leaps and bounds on offense. Zaccharie Risacher showed continued improvement and was one of the best rookies in the NBA this season. Onyeka Okongwu took over as the starting center and showed that he could hold that position for the Hawks, while Jalen Johnson looked like an All-Star. If Johnson had not suffered a season-ending injury, as well as Larry Nance and Clint Capela getting injured, the Hawks might have been a top-six seed in the East.

One of the biggest parts of the offseason of course is free agency and the Hawks have a few notable players whose contracts will be up this summer. Capela is one of them. Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus named Capela as the Hawks's toughest free agent decision:

Capela is one of the longest-tenured Hawks on the team, but his future with the team is not clear. While he is not the force on defense he was when he first arrived in Atlanta, he is still pretty solid and the Hawks missed his presence in the middle after he was injured. Heading into the offseason, Onyeka Okongwu is the only center under contract and the Hawks will of course have to fill the depth behind him. Will it be Capela? It does not seem that way, but it can't be completely ruled out.

Capela has been one of the most underrated Hawks players since arriving in Atlanta and one of the most consistent. He has been the anchor in the middle of the Hawks defense and has had to do a lot of heavy lifting on that end since arriving, but this season was a bit different for Capela.

The season began with Capela still starting for the Hawks, but there was a change in January. Capela was benched in favor of Onyeka Okongwu, something that has been speculated about since Okongwu was taken with the 6th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Capela was once again in trade rumors leading up to the trade deadline and while he was not dealt, he then had to deal with injuries that kept him out for a good portion of the season after the deadline.

In terms of numbers and stats, this was not a great year for Capela, who showed signs of aging for the first time since being a Hawks. He had his lowest PPG since 2015-2016, his second year in the NBA, his lowest blockers per game since his rookie season, his lowest RPG since joining the Hawks, his lowest field goal percentage since his rookie season, and his fewest minutes played per game since 2015-2016.

Per Cleaning the Glass, Capela finished the season with a 2.1% Block Percentage, the lowest in his career, as well as the lowest EFG% since his rookie season and the lowest two-point percentage (56.2%) since his rookie season. It was not just a defensive decline for Capela, but he was not finishing at the rim and shooting the ball as well as he had in the past. Capela had been an elite rim-running lob threat alongside Trae Young in the past, but he was not finishing well, as evidenced by his low effective field goal percentage and two-point percentage.

Capela was still a high-level rebounder though. He finished with a 13.9 fgOR% (91st percentile) and a 23 fgDR%. That was his top skill and wherever he lands, he can still provide that.

Even with a down season from Capela, the Hawks sorely missed his presence in the paint later in the season. Capela and Larry Nance Jr were both injured late in the season and the Hawks were left with only Okongwu at the center position and Atlanta had a serious size issue, with teams being able to use that against them time and again.

With Capela being an impending free agent this summer, should the Hawks consider bringing him back? It seems unlikely, but nothing is impossible. Right now, Okongwu is the only center under contract for the Hawks and at the right price, Capela could still bring leadership and solid minutes as a backup if healthy. The thing is, was his decline on defense and as a lob threat a sign of things to come or can he bounce back? There is always a right price for things, but it does not feel like Capela is going to be back for the Hawks.

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