Philadelphia 76ers: Ranking each trade target they are rumored to be interested in
By Josh Wilson
3. Robert Covington
Robert Covington is one of the best defenders in the NBA, making the All-Defense first team in 2018.
Often assigned to a team’s most lethal offensive player, his rotations are solid and he has extremely active hands on that end of the floor. He has the eighth-most deflections per game in the NBA this year. Consider that Ben Simmons has the third-most, the defensive appeal of a RoCo addition is obvious.
Sixers fans know this, as he first demonstrated his defensive proficiency in Philadelphia. The Sixers traded him and Dario Saric for Jimmy Butler last season. This trade would be full circle in that way.
He’s a decent shooter, too, hitting 34.7 percent of his long ball shots this year and 35.9 on his career. He isn’t lethal from beyond the arc, but he’s one of the only options on the Sixers list of rumored targets that would probably improve their defense while on the floor.
His shooting can be a bit streaky, but he does add relative spacing. Even when he’s not hitting his shots from deep defenses still need to pay attention to him beyond the arc.
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The issue here is the fact that he’s an unrestricted free agent and that he will be a hot commodity at the deadline. A bidding war could take place pushing the Sixers out of the conversation with limited assets on the table.
The reason Covington gets an edge here is that he did get the biggest opportunity to jumpstart his career in Philly, so he may be willing to sign on for a few seasons in the summer. The issue there is the same as it is now — lots of teams want him and his asking price is going to drive through the roof.