LAS VEGAS – Clint Capela arrived moments before the tip of the Rockets' summer league game and took a seat on the front row the way NBA stars so often do when they stop by to support the youngsters. Capela was there to learn.

It was the easy part of his workday, but as he has with every Rockets summer game this week, Capela had a place next to John Lucas, the team's new director of development, so Lucas could be in his ear with every lesson he believed Capela needed to hear.

Putting in the work

Each morning they have been on the court working. Every afternoon or late in the evening, they have been back at it. Capela has a new shadow, pushing him and measuring the limits of Capela's patience with his demands.

"I'm working with him two times a day," Capela said before the Rockets summer league team lost 89-71 to the D-League Select team on Monday. "It's hard, but I'm happy with it. He's been working with a lot of players. He knows how to do it. "

Capela is expected to succeed Dwight Howard as the Rockets' starting center and might have benefitted from playing time if he was on the summer league team. But if he played in the afternoon, he could not have gone through two-a-day practices with Lucas.

"I haven't gotten one "Are you kidding me?' He just does the work," Lucas said. "I get him out here at 6 in the morning. No problem. Out here at 10 at night. No problem. … I've been waiting for him to want a day off. Obviously, we're learning each other, how far I can push and prod so we can get there."

Untapped potential

Capela has shown the work ethic before he enrolled in Lucas' summer school. On the day Mike D'Antoni was introduced as Rockets head coach along with assistants Jeff Bzdelik and Roy Rogers, Rogers arrived at Toyota Center to find his future student "already lathered up."

"The No. 1 thing is getting him in the gym. He's already doing that," Rogers said. "He hasn't even tapped into his potential yet. As long as he is willing to work on and off the court, he has a chance to be a special player.

"Sometimes, you get bigs who want to dominate. … It's hard for young players to know who they are and even harder to accept who they are. He's done both. That's why he can be a special player. When you're out there with James Harden, trust me, teams are game-planning on how to stop James Harden. James is very unselfish. He's willing to give the ball up. When he gives it up, you have to do something with it."

That's where this summer's work comes in. Capela showed flashes of being a strong pick-and-roll finisher, but he has made just 35.9 percent of his NBA free throws. Lucas believes Capela has the potential to develop face-up shooting touch along with post moves to hooks with either hand. But first, he has to be able to make a free throw. In Las Vegas, he has had to make 500 a day.

"Getting his free throw fixed, that's a big key," Lucas said. "We're working on that, trying to establish some confidence. His athleticism is off the chart, but he's much more than an athlete playing basketball.

"Now, obviously we're not there. But his confidence about it is there. He has the capabilities to shoot some sky hooks, and use his athleticism and length. In the lane, he's really going to be a great rim protector."

Big expectations

To do that, he has to stay on the court more than he has had to so far in his 89 NBA games. Capela has averaged 17.5 minutes. To dramatically increase that workload, the Rockets believe he must improve his strength and conditioning.

Listed at 6-10, 240 pounds, Capela already looks sturdier, the result of offseason work that began just a few weeks after the end of the season. There remains, however, a long way to go to live up to expectations of "special."

"That's why I'm trying to work like this back home," Capela said. "I'm pretty excited. I take it as a challenge.

"I need to focus on what is most important. I think what is most important for me is to work out with him and be ready for the next season."