Jim Brown – USA Today Sports Images
Robert Covington out of Tennessee State waited to hear his name called in the second round of the 2013 NBA Draft. However, after all 60 selections had been announced, Covington was not among those players. That didn’t stop the Houston Rockets from offering him a two-year minimum contract with $150,000 in guaranteed money the day after the draft.
In his senior season with the Tigers, the 6’7” stretch power forward played 31 minutes per game and averaged 17 points, eight rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 2.2 steals per game, but shot just 43.5 percent and 38.8 percent from long-range. In his junior season, though, he took around the same amount of attempts per game that he did in his senior year and shot 52.9 percent from the floor and 45.3 percent from three.
Covington played with the Rockets in the Orlando Summer League this past week as Houston made it to the championship game in Orlando. In the final game of the week, a 85-77 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Covington had himself a great day as he put up 21 points, five rebounds, four steals and one block on 8-17 shooting and 3-7 shooting from three.
The rookie finished the week playing in all five games for Houston and seeing the floor for 23.4 minutes per game. On the week he put up solid averages of 12.4 points, five rebounds, 2.4 steals and 0.8 blocks per game. However, he did only shoot 41.2 percent from the field and 32.1 percent from three.
Though he played the four in college, it’s hard to imagine someone with his build playing that role consistently in the NBA. However, with his scoring and solid defensive ability that creates turnovers, it’s hard to imagine Covington not having a chance to work his way into the Rockets’ rotation as a backup for Chandler Parsons or as part of their platoon at power forward. All in all, though, the Rockets may have found value that everyone missed once again.
Cody Williams is a Senior Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20, add him on Google+ and like his Facebook page.
