Robert Covington’s name has been popping up in trade rumors lately, and it’s easy to see why: every team has a need for three-point shooters, and every team has a need for defenders (except the Wizards); Covington is both. He’s as plug-and-play as they come. You put him on a team, give him a few games to figure out his role, and he’ll be just as productive in the new place as he was in the old place.
Houston in particular has emerged as a team that is interested in Covington’s services. Since the Timberwolves are longshots to make the playoffs this season, they might elect to get out from under Covington’s long-term money if the Rockets were able to send some intriguing stuff their way. The thing is, I can’t think of anything the Rockets have that would count as “intriguing” (other than Nene and his intriguingly old body), so I don’t expect the two teams to make a deal any time soon. A trade like that would be a fun homecoming for Covington, who played seven total games in his rookie season for the Rockets, but sometimes those nostalgia trades are made for the wrong reasons (see: the Kings re-acquiring Anthony Tolliver).
Given the extremely intelligent and well-informed trade analysis above, I see no reason why The Athletic can’t hire me right now to write NBA stories for them. I can’t promise that all of my stories would be fact-checked or accurate, but I can promise that if you pay me real money to write this stuff, I will make at least a token effort to write things that are coherent and that sound true.