After battling inconsistency in recent weeks and seasons in his career, recently Clint Capela has become a more consistent option for the Houston Rockets.

Clint Capela is the future at center for the Houston Rockets as a rim-running, athletic and mobile big to set screens, catch lobs and protect the paint. Gone are the designated post-ups that can clog up an offense.

However, Capela has struggled with consistency in recent seasons and even weeks of this current season. One night he puts up 17-plus points, 10-plus rebounds and two blocks, and the next night he only gets 10 points and seven rebounds. And then his minutes load comes in to play. After playing just 23.9 minutes per game last season, Capela continued to deal with nagging injuries and inconsistency this season.

However, in recent weeks, Capela has become much more consistent and is playing more. In January, Capela is playing over 28 minutes per game and averaging 16.1 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. In fact, over his last five games, Capela is playing 29.6 minutes per game, as his importance to the Rockets offense became even more apparent.

In fact, the Rockets are undefeated (16-0) when James Harden, Chris Paul and Capela all play, and Houston is 8-0 this season when Capela scores more than 20 points in a game. Capela is scoring more this season as he almost always has one of Paul or Harden on the floor with him. Before this season, Capela had just seven 20-point games, highlighting his increased involvement in the Rockets offense.

Without Capela, the Rockets miss a crucial lob threat that opens up the offense. Because defenses don’t have to worry about the vertical threat of Nene or Tarik Black, they can focus on stopping a Harden or Paul drive and guard the pick-and-roll straight up.

Another crucial, yet often underrated aspect of Capela’s presence is his ability to grab offensive rebounds and kick it out to open shooters. Capela has gotten much better at being aware of where his teammates are after corralling a rebound:

Capela should certainly be in the running for Most Improved Player of the Year. He is averaging career highs across the board, from traditional stats (scoring, rebounding, blocks, etc.) to advanced metrics such as Player Efficiency Rating (25.9), True Shooting Percentage (67.3), Win Shares per 48 Minutes (.248) and Box Plus-Minus (3.5).

Capela is playing and contributing more when on the floor. His presence is extremely important and underrated for the Rockets as one of the few threats on the offensive glass and the only threat to catch lobs out of the pick-and-roll.

Plus, Capela can defend the rim with his verticality and by blocking shots. Just watch as he blocks DeMarcus Cousins but then continues to stay with the play, leading to Cousins being stripped and throwing the ball out of the post:

That is just one example of Capela’s valuable rim protection. As the only big on the roster that can do that on a consistent basis, he is even more valuable for the Rockets on a game-to-game basis.

Clint Capela needs to remain healthy and keep up this consistent level of play and minutes load. As the only big man on the roster capable of finishing alley-oops and defending the rim, he is extremely important to the Rockets, as evident by the fact that Houston has yet to lose when he plays with Paul and Harden.

Capela has room to grow, but so far this season, he is much improved and his value to Houston seems to increase each time he is on the floor. As the Rockets look to contend for the foreseeable future, Capela must continue to improve and become a consistent option each and every game.