Robert Covington
Philadelphia 76ers

Player Facts

Height: 6'7"
Weight: 209lbs.

Wingspan: 7'1.75"

Date of Birth: Dec. 14, 1990
College Experience: Tennessee State (4 years)

Selections

All Star: 0
All-NBA: 0
All-Defensive: 1

Player Grades

Speed/Explosiveness: 8
Physical Strength: 7
Positional Size: 8
Positional Wingspan: 10
Paint Scoring: 7
Midrange Scoring: 5
Three-Point Scoring: 8
Dribbling: 5
Passing: 4
Perimeter Defense: 8
Interior Defense: 8
Rebounding: 7

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JUMP TO SECTION

> Intro

> Slotting Next to Stars

> Off-Ball Offense

> Finishing with Length

> Super-Charged Switching

> Dynamic Off-Ball Defense

> Making Plays on D

> Rim Protection at Forward

> Screen Navigation + Transition D

> Slim Shot Creation at Wing

> Not Bashful But Not Efficient

> Featherweight Forward

> Beacon Bacon

>Link to Player Contract & Salary Info

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*All statistical data courtesy of NBA Advanced Stats

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STRENGTHS

Intro

Robert Covington is right around the pinnacle of 3-and-D wings. He's best suited to slot in at one of the forward spots and has even slid up to center at times. RoCo is a great complementary piece when trying to build out a contender around stars.

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Slotting Next to Stars

From Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid to James Harden and Russell Westbrook to Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, RoCo has played with an abundance of stars.

He fits like a glove next to players like this on both sides of the court. Offensively speaking, he benefits from their gravity with clean spot-up looks. From a defensive outlook, Covington can take on the number one option and be a disruptor off-ball.

Off-Ball Offense

His naturally high release point helps him stay calm and smooth as he rises up off the catch. Robert can shoot spot-ups off the hop or the 1-2 step (307 spot-up points across his two teams in 2021-2022).

On spot-ups, he was in the 87th percentile with Minnesota in 2018-2019 and then averaged the second-most points here (6 per game) with Houston in 2019-2020. As a Trail Blazer in 2020-2021, he proceeded to drill a hair under 38% of his catch-and-shoot triples.

The eye test illustrates that Robert's an active weakside cutter. As long as he's on a squad that emphasizes player movement, he'll fit in as a cog in that respect. His 6'7" frame helps him finish on these cuts better than small perimeter players do.

The Tennessee State alumnus is an off-ball danger in transition. This is mostly because of how proficient he is at walking into the wing triple. He acts as a pressure release if the player leading the break finds himself walled off inside.

Finishing with Length

Finishing at the basket is not the most common occurrence for the 3-and-D stud, but he's a good one. He's been over 63% at the rim from 2017-2018 to 2019-2020, a passable figure as a non-big. He'll use his athleticism to take off multiple feet beyond the rim and extend for the finish.

Super-Charged Switching

Robert Covington spends time guarding all sorts of player types. RoCo's lateral quicks and reaction time are remarkable which helps against smaller guards. The clever wing does some of the little things that make a difference one-on-one as well, like tracing the ball with his hand to prevent easy passes out.

With that side-to-side agility, he mirrors his opponent extremely well and can cut off multiple driving angles in one sequence. He continues to be impressive in the post with that length despite being a slighter wing, guarding bigs when he's in a small-ball lineup. Overall, the man defense of Robert still falls short of his off-ball work which is truly elite.

Dynamic Off-Ball Defense

Covington's on-ball defense is solid, with great size and length. However, he shines when he gets to be an off-ball agent of chaos against the opposition. His strength as a team defender is comprised of multiple key points.

For one, his closeouts are textbook, and their effectiveness is heightened by that great reach. That near-7'2"wingspan obstructs the shooter's vision.

RoCo caused opposing shooters to fall 3.8% below their normal mark in 2019-2020. This bested Pascal Siakam's -3.6%, a long and rangy forward heralded for his ability to fly around within the zone defense.

He routinely puts on a masterclass with his off-ball alertness on defense. The undrafted player has turned himself into a rotating wreaker of havoc as he swarms post-ups and lurches into passing lanes. Rob's high-revving defensive motor lets him track down long rebounds also.

Making Plays on D

Robert is a defensive playmaker in the purest sense. With admirable blocking and defensive rebounding at forward, his foundation is already strong here.

In addition, he swiped 2.2 steals per-36 in 2018-2019, 1.9 in 2019-2020, and 4.1 in 2020-2021. During that middle season, RoCo was second to only Jrue Holiday in total deflections. He did one better in 2020-2021 - number one in the Association with 255 deflections.

The turnover-forcing machine launches himself out to help but has long strides to recover when a pass is made. Those lightspeed hands can dislodge the ball with swipes and slap downs as he helps or recovers. His 7'1.75" wingspan is outstretched as slashers attack Robert which mucks up their vision and their options.

Rim Protection at Forward

Covington provides uber-valuable defense on the backline as a 3/4. He gets the job done by sliding into position at the perfect moment to stonewall the driver. The man posted 2.4 blocks per 36 minutes during his 2019-2020 Rockets stint.

Screen Navigation + Transition D

He fights over ball screens hard to make sure his man gets nothing easy. This is one area where having such a narrow frame is beneficial.

Surprising unsuspecting pull-up jump shooters here with the hand up is just one way Rob gets his perimeter blocks. If they continue along their path to the cup, he can hunt them down and poke the ball away.

RoCo's transition defense can also be unbelievable. His rim protection skills show up here clear as day. As players jet down the middle of the floor, Covington does well to play both the pass and the shot, sometimes slapping down to jar the ball loose.

WEAKNESSES

Slim Shot Creation at Wing

His handle can be a little loose, but he knows not to deviate from his role on offense. Still, some shot creation skills would boost his scoring package. After all, 6'7" NBA swingmen tend to be able to manufacture their own shot from scratch.

It's rare to see Rob make an advanced read as an on-ball passer. His assist totals are tiny in general. It is not a rarity for Covington to record a negative AST/TO ratio regular season.

Between 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, there was a three-way tie for most assists averaged from RoCo to a certain player at only 0.2. The three seldom-found recipients were Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, and Daniel House Jr.

Not Bashful But Not Efficient

RoCo will assuredly continue firing from long distance, but his percentages are not always that great. He has yet to reach the elusive 40% benchmark from three for a full campaign.

In 2019-2020 he actually shot below NBA average from deep, clocking in at a weak 33.5%. More broadly speaking though, his catch-and-shoot percentages tend to be good. Finally, in 2020-2021, he shot a respectable 37.9% overall from deep.

Featherweight Forward

He's got a wiry build at 6'7" but is very light. Covington is genuinely one of the most positionally flexible defenders though musclebound opponents can go through him.

He tips the scales at 209 lbs. which parallels that of a guard as opposed to a big wing. Rob can foul excessively in these sorts of matchups.

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Players Appearing in This Analysis – Check Out Their Profiles
bacon
Beacon Bacon

Covington was on the 2017-2018 All-Defensive First Team standing next to some historically great defenders like Rudy Gobert, Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday