Philadelphia 76ers: 5 goals for Robert Covington in 2017-18

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(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

1. Make an NBA All-Defensive Team

Granted, the competition facing Covington to nab one of the four frontline spots available on either the First or Second NBA All-Defensive Teams is extremely tough.

The forwards on the First Team last season comprised Draymond Green, who was the named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and Kawhi Leonard, who won the award the previous two seasons.

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On the Second Team, emerging superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and Andre Roberson of the Oklahoma City Thunder were the selected players.

However, with the Thunder’s offseason acquisition of All-Star Paul George, Roberson is now expected to man the 2-guard spot alongside MVP Russell Westbrook. As a result, he would be out of the equation to be chosen in the forward slot.

Therefore, with a slight window in which to work from an All-Defensive standpoint, Covington can hopefully extend his defensive prowess to the next level.

One statistical measure in which Covington was overwhelmingly dominant was the ESPN Defensive Real Plus/Minus (DRPM). In essence, this measures the player’s impact on a team’s wins based on their defensive impact. The following explanation comes from ESPN itself:

"“….the metric isolates the unique plus-minus impact of each NBA player by adjusting for the effects of each teammate and opposing player….RPM estimates how many points each player adds or subtracts, on average, to his team’s net scoring margin for each 100 possessions played.”"

A conventional plus/minus measures a team’s performance when the player is on the court, but is therefore skewed depending on which players a particular player shares the court with. This model attempts to differentiate itself by not only eliminating these influences, but categorizing them into offensive and defensive to give a true indication as to the value of a player.

Last season, Covington was ranked fourth in the league in DRPM, only falling behind Rudy Robert, the aforementioned Green and Andrew Bogut. While it’s just one measurement, and can be quite subjective to many, it nonetheless illustrates the impact Covington has on the defensive end.

So with the Sixers expected to climb noticeably up the standings, this will do Covington’s league-wide recognition no harm at all. As coach Brown noted during during the midst of last season:

"“He can become an elite defender. He is a versatile, multi-purpose defensive player. And he’s been able to talk to the team because they respect his ability to play defense.”"

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If he continues his growth at his current rate, being selected to an NBA All-Defensive Team is a real possibility.