4 Players Pelicans might replace Valanciunas with by the trade deadline
By Mat Issa
![Jonas Valanciunas, New Orleans Pelicans. Clint Capela, Atlanta Hawks. (Photo by Casey Sykes/Getty Images) Jonas Valanciunas, New Orleans Pelicans. Clint Capela, Atlanta Hawks. (Photo by Casey Sykes/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/d0a631b644521a3dd528a7de1c42c0e148e8289d5e0731b941f9f89b7ebb9dfe.jpg)
2. Clint Capela (Atlanta Hawks)
The Atlanta Hawks have a lot of young talent they are looking to allocate more minutes to in 2023-24. Guys like AJ Griffin, Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu, and Kobe Bufkin are all young/promising players who could play a role in the team’s success next season.
To do that, the Hawks need to get rid of some of the older players standing in their way. They already took the first step in that process by trading John Collins to the Utah Jazz this offseason.
If they plan on clearing out more minutes for Okongwu, they will likely need to move on from soon-to-be tenth-year big man Clint Capela. Now, we say that they need to remove the old guard, but Capela still has plenty of gas in the tank.
Last season, he finished in the 73rd percentile in block rate among bigs (per Cleaning the Glass). He was also a great rim deterrent (the best paint protectors are the ones who avoid having interior shots attempted in the first place). When he was on the floor last year for Atlanta, their opponent’s rim frequency decreased by nearly three percent (89th percentile).
He’s not the rim protector he once was, but he is a clear upgrade over Valanciunas.