When the Houston Rockets picked up Kenneth Faried on the buyout market earlier this year, he was thought to be essentially a fill-in for normal starter Clint Capela, who was out with a thumb injury. Conventional wisdom and Mike D’Antoni’s tendencies told us that when Capela returned, the 6’8” Faried would continue to play at the five, just less often.
It’s no secret that D’Antoni likes to go small, and Faried’s ability to still leap out of the gym had him squarely situated as a Capela-light in the Houston system.