With Dwight Howard gone and Mike D’Antoni in as coach, Clint Capella is going to get the start — and put up numbers — for the Rockets at center.
The question has been who plays behind him besides rookie Chinanu Onuaku. It looks like the answer is Nene, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical at Yahoo Sports.
Free agent center Nene has agreed to a deal with Houston, sources tell @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2016
Sources: Nene deal: 1-year, $2.9M
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2016
The biggest question is how many games the Rockets will get out of Nene — he has missed at least 15 games (and usually much more) in each of the last five NBA seasons. He has to be on a maintenance program (limited minutes, no back-to-backs) and hope that limits the time he misses due to injury. Also, the lingering issues have limited his effectiveness when he is on the court.
When healthy he’s a good passer on offense and can knock down midrange shots, plus protect the rim. He’s not great at those things anymore, but he’d make a good backup, especially at the price the Rockets just got him for. It’s a solid pickup. They just can’t expect too much.
