{"id":34905,"date":"2020-11-17T18:07:35","date_gmt":"2020-11-17T23:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=34905"},"modified":"2020-11-17T18:07:42","modified_gmt":"2020-11-17T23:07:42","slug":"houston-rockets-robert-covington-portland-grades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2020\/11\/17\/houston-rockets-robert-covington-portland-grades\/","title":{"rendered":"Grading the Portland Trailblazers Acquiring Robert Covington"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/rockets\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Houston Rockets<\/a> made a surprise move sending <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/covinro01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Robert Covington<\/a><\/strong> to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/trailblazers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Portland Trailblazers.<\/a> Portland played the majority of the 2019-20 season without a genuine small forward thus the arrival of Covington addresses this need.<\/p>\n<p>ESPN&#8217;s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the story.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Rockets are finalizing a trade to send Robert Covington to Portland for Trevor Ariza and 2020 first-round pick and 2021 protected first-round pick, sources tell ESPN.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wojespn\/status\/1328555067088269314?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 17, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>With Houston in a state of flux, this move potentially signals that the Rockets are heading toward a rebuild. Let&#8217;s break down this deal.<\/p>\n<h2>The Portland Trailblazers Acquire Robert Covington<\/h2>\n<p>While the Trailblazers acquired Covington, they had to give up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/arizatr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Trevor Ariza<\/strong><\/a> and two first-round picks to do so, including the 16th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.<\/p>\n<p>The motivations behind this deal for Houston are obvious &#8211; acquire as many picks as possible. Rookie General Manager Rafael Stone made some noise in his very first transaction, acquiring two picks and\u00a0Ariza&#8217;s expiring deal. The Rockets needed to recoup some draft capital after trading the majority of its picks prior to this transaction.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">HOUSTON ROCKETS FUTURE 1ST ROUND PICKS<\/p>\n<p>2020 &#8211; 16th pick<br \/>2021 &#8211; 1-4 (OWN), 5-30 OKC swap, POR (protected)<br \/>2022 &#8211; OWN<br \/>2023 &#8211; OWN<br \/>2024 &#8211; 1-4 (OWN), 5-30 OKC <br \/>2025 &#8211; 1-10 (OWN); 11-30 Own or OKC swap<br \/>2026\u00a0&#8211; 1-4 Own; 5-30 to OKC<\/p>\n<p>Nice low-key move by Rookie GM Rafael Stone. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/eYD75ikTJA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/eYD75ikTJA<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Eagle Moneyball (@geola388) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/geola388\/status\/1328784954084397056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 17, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Former General Manager Daryl Morey sent out <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/paulch01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chris Paul<\/a><\/strong>, two picks, and two pick swaps for <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/westbru01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Russell Westbrook<\/a><\/strong> last summer. While it represented a chance to compete for a championship, it also left the franchise asset poor should the experiment go awry. Fast forward to the present and things appear to be blowing up so this is a great move for Houston.<\/p>\n<p>Financially, this deal potentially saves Houston approximately $11-million-dollars. Ariza&#8217;s one year, $12.8-million-dollar deal is only guaranteed for $1.8-million. Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta is known to be <em>cheap\u00a0<\/em>thus this saves him some money if they waive him.<\/p>\n<p>Stone&#8217;s first transaction as GM was superb and he deserves a ton of credit.<\/p>\n<h3>Grade: A-<\/h3>\n<h3>Portland Trailblazers Receive Robert Covington<\/h3>\n<p>The Portland Trailblazers finally addressed their need at small forward, acquiring a defensive-minded two-way wing. Covington was the primary big in Houston&#8217;s small-ball experiment last season, forming a tough, undersized frontcourt with PJ Tucker. He averaged 12.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 1.3 blocks on 42.2 percent shooting and 33.5 percent from three.<\/p>\n<p>Covington is somewhat a recovery project after Portland inexplicably allowed its defense to walk out the door last off-season. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/aminual01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Al-Farouq Aminu<\/strong> <\/a>(Orlando) and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/harklma01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Maurice Harkless<\/a><\/strong> (Los Angeles Clippers) went to new clubs last off-season but were never replaced. Portland was forced to sign and play <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/anthoca01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carmelo Anthony<\/a><\/strong> at small forward. While Anthony did a good job, his defensive limitations exacerbated Portland&#8217;s existing issues on that side of the ball. Covington&#8217;s arrival plugs some of these issues. He isn&#8217;t the best on-ball defender but he&#8217;s a terrific team defender. The 29-year-old averaged 2.2 blocks per game for Houston so I suspect he will have a similar role with the Blazers.<\/p>\n<p>Two first-round picks is an overpay but the Blazers were desperate to fill a position of need. It&#8217;s a nice <em>under the radar\u00a0<\/em>move but the two picks take the shine off the deal for Portland.<\/p>\n<h3>Grade: B<\/h3>\n<p>Main Photo<br \/>\n<a id=\"VbyI4GiESRlByzVd80OeHw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1168114738\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'VbyI4GiESRlByzVd80OeHw',sig:'1jCApk55azvHkqKJu6u8vXj_Y8h250VLo1w2Bb1wpC8=',w:'594px',h:'430px',items:'1168114738',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Houston Rockets made a surprise move sending Robert Covington to the Portland Trailblazers. Portland played the majority of the 2019-20 season without a genuine small forward thus the arrival of Covington addresses this need. ESPN&#8217;s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the story. The Rockets are finalizing a trade to send Robert Covington to Portland for Trevor [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3477,"featured_media":34930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,31,62,23],"tags":[333,3716,1535,1084],"class_list":["post-34905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-rockets","category-nba","category-trailblazers","tag-houston-rockets","tag-portland-trailblazers","tag-robert-covington","tag-trevor-ariza"],"modified_by":"Zach Kircher","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3477"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}