Rockets' Nene Hilario: Loses out on starting center role

Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni announced Tuesday that Hilario would come off the bench to begin the season, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Analysis:

The Rockets labeled the starting center role as a competition heading into training camp, but there was never really any momentum to start Hilario, a 34-year-old with an extensive injury history, over the 22-year-old Clint Capela, who profiles as a superior athlete and shot blocker. When he was healthy enough to play last season with the Wizards, Hilario showed that he can still hold his own on the defensive end while providing some useful scoring on post-ups, but at this point in his career, he's not capable of giving the Rockets much more than 20-to-25 minutes per game. As such, Capela offers more overall fantasy upside of the two players based on what he's capable of providing in the rebounds and blocks categories.