The Houston Rockets, one of many teams eyeing Minnesota Timberwolves three-and-D specialist Robert Covington, are no longer interested in acquiring him, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic.
The Rockets had shown previous interest in Covington, but talks have cooled down since then — no longer bidding for his services.
The Timberwolves were bound to put a high price tag on Covington as their single most sellable asset up for trade. While there will surely be inquiries about the availability of Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins — two of the franchise pillars — Covington is a player with good upside for a contending team, but also one the Timberwolves don't mind keeping, as he is symbolic of the three-and-D mold president Gersson Rosas is hoping to build the roster through.
Houston has been dying to add a strong caliber three-and-D asset since the day they let Trevor Ariza walk away in free agency, but they have committed so much money to stars like James Harden and Russell Westbrook, among others like Clint Capela and Eric Gordon — that they don't have the necessary pieces to make a compelling case to get Covington.
General manager Daryl Morey admitted as much during a recent interview:
“I think we have the players that can do it,” said Morey. “We just gotta get it there. I mean, our first focus is always [to] win with what we got. And then obviously my job is to look at other things, but I think everyone’s focus is we got good players and let’s make it happen.”
The Rockets will become buyers once again in the buyout market, where most of their moves could come from this season.
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