Robert Covington’s emergence as a two-way player fits perfectly with the Denver Nuggets’ frontcourt needs.
Back in early February, the Denver Nuggets were near the top of the standings, the All-Star Break was drawing near and every team in the league had a center. That is, until the Houston Rockets shocked the world by trading talented center Clint Capela for forward Robert Covington in a four-team deal.
The NBA is no stranger to novelty but the Rockets’ decision to be full-time small-ball team was still unprecedented. Houston not only had an excellent rim-protector and pick-and-roll threat in Capela, an All-Star caliber player, but his chemistry with Harden had been developing for a few seasons as well.
By moving Capela, the Rockets maximized their floor spacing on offense but the design was catered to an offensive system created by Mike D’Antoni. Now, with D’Antoni in Brooklyn (and former general manager Daryl Morey in Philadelphia), there’s ample reason to doubt that Houston will stick with their center-less approach.
If the Rockets do begin moving players so that they can play the style that recently hired head coach Stephen Silas favors, then there’s one player on that list that will help the Nuggets more than any other — at least as far as the players who aren’t stars go: Covington.
How Covington fits with Denver
In 22 games with the Rockets, Covington averaged 11.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 1.6 steals per game, playing every frontcourt position. As has been the case since his emergence as a quality role player, what was most impressive about Covington’s performance was his defense.
As it’s often been mentioned, the Nuggets’ most glaring hole has been their defense and if they don’t resolve the problem, it could prevent them from becoming champions with the core they currently have.
As both Jerami Grant and Paul Millsap are expected to test free agency (and the uncertainty about where Bol Bol fits in next season’s rotation), there’s also what’s potentially a startling lack of depth for Denver at power forward.
The Nuggets could kill two birds with one stone if they were able to swing a trade for Covington, who can be the prototypical small-ball four at 6’7″ and 209 pounds.
With Covington in the fold, Denver could potentially climb the defensive rankings in both defensive rating and blocks per game where they ranked 18th and 21st respectively in the 2019-20 regular season.