Robert Covington is adjusting well during his second stint with the Sixers
Covington has played his best basketball in the last two games, averaging 15.0 points and 2.5 steals. It doesn’t always show up in the box score, but he is having impactful minutes as a Sixer.
BOSTON — Robert Covington was relatively unknown, a 24-year-old still trying to find a role to stick in the NBA when the 76ers signed him on Nov. 15, 2014.
Covington is back with the Sixers after being acquired on Nov. 1 in a trade package from the Los Angeles Clippers as a 32-year-old with a decade’s worth of selfless plays.
From his days in Minnesota, where the Sixers shipped him after four-plus seasons in Philly, to his time in Houston, Portland, and L.A., Covington has excelled in various selfless roles. And it has been no different during his second go-round with the Sixers (12-7).
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The 6-foot-7 reserve forward is averaging 5.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.4 steals, and 17.9 minutes in 16 games with three starts. He has played his best basketball the last two games, averaging 15.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 2.5 steals, and 30 minutes against New Orleans and Boston. He made 7 of 10 three-pointers.
“Like I said, the more and more games I get under my belt, the more and more I’m going to get comfortable within the offense and defense,” Covington said after finishing with season high of 18 points and five steals Friday in the 125-119 loss to the Celtics. “Learning the terminology. Learning the little things that they do, how we are going to guard. It’s going to all come together.”
The 11th-year veteran out of Tennessee State made an immediate impact in the game.
He first entered with 6 minutes, 29 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Covington made 2 of 3 three-pointers, hit a pair of foul shots, and had three steals before the quarter concluded.
“I think that’s what he kind of does,” coach Nick Nurse said. “He makes plays. He’s a loose-ball finder, good anticipation as a weakside defender, and he turned into the five-man for a little bit.
“We were trying to pick-and-pop their size a little bit and he turned into that and made a couple of good plays.”
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While it doesn’t always show up in the box score, Covington is having impactful minutes as a Sixer.
That’s not to disregard his impact during his first stint as a Sixer.
Back then, Covington blossomed into one of the team’s leaders. He stretched the floor with his three-point shooting and consistently defended the opposing team’s best perimeter players. Three years after he joined the Sixers, they rewarded him with a four-year, $62 million contract extension.
The Sixers, however, were desperate for a third star to pair with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. And Covington was the best trade asset to acquire one. So they packaged him to Minnesota in a trade for Jimmy Butler.
Now, he’s back to provide depth.
The team hopes his length, three-and-D prowess, and ability to guard multiple positions can help foster a successful season and a long postseason run.
But for now, his play is one of the reasons there’s a lot of optimism around the Sixers.