Is it time for the Atlanta Hawks to make a difficult decision about the starting 5?

Should Clint Capela still be a starter for the Atlanta Hawks?

Now to the center position; the Hawks might be best off making a move at the center position if they aren’t ready to make the decision to move Collins to the bench. To put it simply, Clint Capela has struggled since coming back from injury. Since he returned from his month-long absence in mid-January, Capela is averaging 12 points and 10.2 rebounds per game at 63.6% from the field. Overall, this is a slight decrease in the counting statistics from where he was pre-injury (12 points and 11.9 rebounds per game before the injury in December).

While that doesn’t jump off the page at you, the biggest impact since his return from injury is that he has taken a step back defensively. Before the injury, Capela had a Defensive Rating of 108.6 on the season. Since the injury, he has a 117 DRtg. While an increase in defensive rating is not a reason to bench Capela, it is clear that what we’ve seen before from Capela might be popping up again. The injury is taking a big toll on Capela and his level of play in my opinion.

Onyeka Okongwu would be the one that you would thrust into the starting lineup if the Hawks decide to make a move. Okongwu really began to flourish some in the month or so that Capela was out with his injury. From December 16th to January 18th, Okongwu averaged 11.4 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting 62.4% from the field in that stretch.

In advanced metrics, Okongwu had a 128.1 Offensive Rating in that stretch (as well as a +16.8 Net Rating). We’ve also seen Okongwu have a big impact in the playoffs so far in his short career. He has a 108.3 Defensive Rating (+20.5 Net Rating) in the playoffs in his career. He’s also done a solid job defensively against some of the players the Hawks could see in the playoffs.

Moving Capela to the bench (and trimming his minutes some) should also help maximize his capabilities down the stretch and make him fresher when the team needs him in the playoffs.

How about some final advanced metrics? The pairing of Bey and Okongwu is one of the Hawks’ strongest duos this year at a +23 Net Rtg in 164 minutes together. The trio of Young, Bey, and Okongwu has also been extremely strong together (+29.8 Net (131.9 Off, and 102. Def) in 84 minutes together this year).

Again, I’m not saying that the Hawks need to bench Collins or Capela and remove them from the rotation altogether, need to remove both of them from the starting lineup or move on from them in the offseason.

I’m just saying that the team needs to at least look at the possibility of moving one of Bey, Johnson, or Okongwu into the starting lineup to help maximize the team’s chances heading into the final month of the regular season, and then the play-in/playoffs from there.