Subscribe
Follow Us
HOUSTON – With the Houston Rockets facing the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night, familiar faces are upon us. While all eyes will be on Trae Young, Hawks' Clint Capela, Bruno Fernando, and Garrison Mathews will make their return to the Toyota Center to play their former team. Out of the three, Capela has the longest time away from playing in Houston, dating back to the 2019-2020 season. The Swiss center departed to the Hawks in a big four-team trade that sent Robert Covington to the Rockets for added wing depth. Last season during the trade deadline, both Fernando and Mathews were traded to the Hawks in exchange for Frank Kaminsky, Justin Holiday, and two second-round picks.
Specifically, on this recent trade, it initially wasn't going to happen dating back to the start of the 2022-2023 season. If you recall, Fernando was in a starting center minutes battle with Alperen Sengun prior to opening tip-off. Now a year later, and Fernando plays for Atlanta, riding the bench under Capela and Onyeka Okongwu. Currently, Sengun on the Rockets has boasted borderline All-Star levels on a team that's looking to climb out of the rebuild and regain Houston's winning culture. This matchup between Atlanta and Houston brings back certain decisions that could have altered the trajectory of the Rockets future.
What the Rockets initially thought
When it was announced that coach Stephen Silas picked Fernando over Sengun as the starting center before the 2022-2023 season, Rockets fans completely lost their minds.
I’ll get over it at some point but I cannot stop laughing at the fact that they really tried to put Alperen Sengun on the back burner for Kevin Porter Jr.
Oh and they benched him for Bruno Fernando…because they wanted a lob threat for Kevin Porter Jr. Good god.
— Roosh (@RooshWilliams) November 11, 2023
Alperen Sengun — the #Rockets leading scorer with 14 points — sits down for Bruno Fernando to get his first run of the night.
— Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) December 20, 2022
It was certainly odd at the beginning. To experiment with Kevin Porter Jr. as the main facilitator in hopes of dishing lobs to Fernando turned into a recipe for disaster. Porter Jr.'s basketball talent is scoring and playing through the offense as a bucket-getter. Facilitating hasn't nor will be his forte. This translated into a bevy of turnovers on the offensive end, leading to the Rockets committing the most turnovers per game for the second straight season.
Called “Baby Jokic,” Sengun's scoring and playmaking talent was overshadowed by Fernando's defensive prowess at the rim. While the Rockets were both near dead last in offense and defensive rating, Silas, in particular, believed offense with an inexperienced playmaker should be the main priority. According to N.B. Lindberg of Space City Scoop, he mentioned that Silas' intention was for the center to create space for guards either through shooting or screening.
This cited one of the reasons why Sengun isn’t a fit for Silas’ preferred offensive system. This isn't to completely rule Fernando out. When on the court his play off the ball was terrific, and that was on the assumption of KPJ's developmental trait of facilitating. To this day, Sengun hasn't developed into a premier lob threat, so it's understandable where Silas was coming from. Still, it doesn't mean he was right.
Rockets catch bittersweet injury breaks
However, on a stroke of unintentional luck for the Rockets future, Fernando sustained an injury early two games into the 2022-2023 season that kept him out for over a month. This called in Sengun to play starting center minutes. To make matters worse at the time, KPJ failed to successfully develop into a playmaker in addition to sustaining a foot injury that kept him out for most of the 2nd half of the season. Ironically, these moments dictated how Sengun pushed for minutes and touches, establishing himself as the premier point forward/center for the Rockets.
Just like Rockets fans intended, Sengun flourished in this role, being an extra facilitator on the offensive end. He also built chemistry with 2nd overall pick Jalen Green down the stretch. Kelly Iko of The Athletic addresses the drastic impact Sengun made on the offensive end, adding a +7 in offensive rating when he was on the floor. Much to the success of Sengun on the floor, Silas continued to give timely minutes to Fernando. Sengun only averaged 28.4 minutes as a starter through the months of November through January. It wasn't until February that Silas finally opened his eyes and realized the untapped potential he was missing. Over time, Fernando was left by the wayside and averaged just over 10 minutes a game since his return. This subsequently led to the trade involving him with Mathews to the Atlanta Hawks.
Possibly a different roster?
Had the injuries to KPJ and Fernando not occurred at the time that they did, we would likely be witnessing a different Rockets team. Maybe Fernando would've gotten a longer leash if he didn't go down to injury. Maybe Sengun would've needed more time developing his game had KPJ stayed healthy. Now, under new head coach Ime Udoka, Sengun is blossoming into All-Star-level talent. In 24 games, the Turkish center is averaging 20 points, nine rebounds, and 5.2 assists on 52.7% shooting. For Fernando, the 25-year-old big is averaging 2.9 points and 1.7 rebounds in just 4.7 minutes over seven scattered games, losing over half of the playing time he received in Houston.
On a lighter note, reuniting two former Rockets with the young core will be a touching moment, as both their teams take on each other on this Wednesday night.
