Robert Covington is a Trail Blazer
Portland gets the two-way power forward they've always needed
The Portland Trail Blazers joined the fun in the NBA and took advantage of the crumbling situation in Houston, where both Russell Westbrook and James Harden are looking for a way out of Tillman Fertita’s reign just as their head coach and top executive did. And after several years of justified criticism, Blazers president Neil Olshey has helped deliver a serious move that helps the Blazers win games now. Perhaps not since 2013, when he got Robin Lopez for pennies on the dollar to help a young Damian Lillard and a veteran group with LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum, and Wesley Matthews, has Olshey made a move this good.
And truthfully, this one is better. Covington’s two-way brilliance and his malleability in every type of game, as well as his ability to fill a giant positional hole that has been filled by valiant but ultimately unable understudies, makes this a home run. Covington’s ability to guard every position, his ability as one of the league’s best wing defenders, and his elite help defense make him exactly what this team has needed for years. While Al-Farouq Aminu is the closest Portland has come to fill that role over the past few years, Covington is absolutely an upgrade. Carmelo Anthony’s offense and clutch shot-making was also something they had missed great, but Covington’s brings the two skillsets as close together as Portland has had them in one singular forward.
Covington brings great defense on both ends as well as a consistent ability to help his team rebound better, while never being afraid of big shots in the clutch moments. Save for last year when he was playing full-time center for the first time in his career, Covington’s teams rebounded the ball better when he was on the court, particularly his last two full seasons in Philadelphia and Minnesota. And frankly, Portland hasn’t had a guy on the wing that does things like this in quite a long time.
Covington is a career 35.6% shooter which doesn’t sound all that great, but you have to consider that you never have to tell Covington when to shoot. His 3-point volume will help the Blazers offense breathe in the playoffs while also making everybody better on the defensive end. Covington’s 3-point volume is a key addition for the Blazers because, for all of their excellence from the outside, the last three seasons have seen the Blazers regress to the middle of the pack in 3-point volume in the league. Maintaining midrange creativity is key in the postseason but Portland’s offense as a whole could be helped by letting it fly a little more and RoCo will help greatly with that.
The Blazers desperately needed someone who could not only guard the elite wings in the league but could also help make life easier for everyone else. He will also allow Terry Stotts to be more creative with lineups and with his playbook, having an athlete, shooter, and high IQ player like Covington in the fold. While the Blazers gave up 2 first-round picks, they are past the time to care about such things.
Portland still needs to fill out the roster and they already have plenty of youth in development. A return of Carmelo Anthony at the vet minimum, another veteran guard, and some additional veteran frontcourt help, perhaps another wing that can help on both ends, for potential meetings against the Lakers, Warriors, and Nuggets, are on the wishlist. Thankfully, for the first time since Lillard became the cornerstone after Aldridge left, Olshey stopped prioritizing the future over what can be a special present. With the addition of Covington, the Blazers have absolutely gotten better, with free agency set to begin on Friday afternoon.