The number of probable first-round picks who’ve declared for the 2014 NBA draft keeps rising.
The Swiss power forward who’s playing in the top French league is a likely first-round pick. He’s 6-foot-11 with a 7-foot-5 wingspan, springy and has a nose for the ball. But he doesn’t have a great feel once the ball is in his hands.
Capela will turn 20 before the draft, and he’s just beginning to realize his rebounding/shot-blocking potential in Europe. How much a team believes he can refine his shooting and ball-handling will determine just where he gets picked. My bet is middle of the first round.
Capela has a $500,000 buyout, he told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports, but that’s within the range teams can contribute without it counting against team salary. It shouldn’t significantly, if at all, affect his draft stock.
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French forward Damien Inglis is also declaring for the draft, according to Spears. Inglis is more likely to fall in the second round-to-undrafted range.
Before the season, Inglis signed a three-year contract, according to Jonathan Givony of Draft Express. Unlike Capela, buyout issues could drop Inglis.
But he has one major positive going for him: his age. Just two players remained 19 all of this season – Giannis Antetokounmpo and Archie Goodwin. Inglis could do it next season. That might convince a team to draft and develop him – or draft him and leave him overseas to develop.
