The Portland Trail Blazers traded two first-round picks to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Robert Covington. That may seem like a high price, but Covington is the exact type of player the Blazers have needed since they traded Nicolas Batum in 2015.
Since then, the Blazers have tried to make it work with Al-Farouq Aminu, Moe Harkless, Rodney Hood, and an aging Carmelo Anthony on the wings. Covington is a clear upgrade from that group.
On the daily Locked On Blazers Podcast, host Mike Richman reacts to the Robert Covington trade and explains why this move is so impactful for Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers.
Mike Richman: Robert Covington was an obvious need for the Blazers, he's sort of always been an obvious need for the Blazers. He can really, really play. I think the question about his overall fit depends on what level he shoots at. In Philly when he had his breakout year in 2018, he was shooting 38 percent from three and when he got traded to Minnesota that year, he shot 37 percent from three. Then in his next season in Minnesota and that partial season in Houston he was a below-average three-point shooter, 34 percent from the from deep in Minnesota and under 32 percent from three with the Rockets where he played a ton of center small-ball center in those funky, fun lineups.
He's under contract through 2022, so the Blazers get him for two full seasons on a really reasonable deal. I'm a big fan of this move. I think it was exactly what they need. It's the signal that Neil Olshey … he doesn't really owe the fan base anything because that's not how the job works, he's not really beholden to us, but he sent the signal to Damian Lillard and he sent the signal to Blazers fans who are tweeting me that the Blazers should trade for Robert Covington, and they did it.
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