Robert Covington Is Ready To Thrive For The LA Clippers

This season hasn’t been idyllic for the LA Clippers.

The ups and downs have not only been exhausting for everyone involved, but they have led to a litany of unnecessary rumors, an unhappy fanbase if you login to any form of social media, and many questions about the team’s future.

With a 41-36 record and a one-game lead on Golden State for the West’s fifth seed, the Clippers have made some rotation adjustments. As Paul George remains sidelined with a sprained knee and Russell Westbrook continues to get familiar with his new teammates, Ty Lue keeps shuffling between lineups to see which combinations put them in the best position to succeed.

The latest change involves Robert Covington, who is now being reintegrated into the nine-man rotation. When he re-signed with the Clippers on a two-year, $24 million deal, which is fully guaranteed, nobody could’ve imagined he’d be used this scarcely. He’s currently 11th in total minutes among all Clippers to have suited up this year — still behind John Wall and Luke Kennard. He’s only 100 minutes ahead of Amir Coffey.

Covington’s professionalism over the last five months should be commended. His team-first, altruistic approach has provided an example for the locker room, as well as any player — veteran or newcomer — that remains buried on the bench. Every role player in the NBA would prefer more playing time. How they handle the possibility of losing those minutes out of nowhere, or going multiple weeks without checking into a game until garbage time, says a lot about the kind of teammate they are. You quickly find out what a player cares about the most.

For Covington, his attitude has never soured despite the odd minutes allocation he’s had to deal with this year.

In an injury-riddled season for the Clippers, which is frankly just any ‘normal’ year for them, Covington should have been a vital part of the rotation from day one. In the 23-game sample after he was acquired last season, without Leonard on the floor, Covington helped lift LA to important victories down the stretch. The Clippers were plus-8.3 per 100 possessions with Covington on the court, as the team maintained a stingy 107.8 defensive rating in his minutes.

Although it was never going to be easy for Lue to manage everyone’s playing time with two All-NBA level wings returning, Covington felt pretty close to an ironclad lock to keep his role. The major question heading into training camp was how many minutes he would sacrifice … not how many games he’d be parked on the bench.

Through March 31, there have been 27 games Covington hasn’t been granted minutes (DNP-coach’s decision). The other six absences were due to illness or injury.

With LA’s playoff status up in the air following an ugly home loss to the Pelicans on Mar. 25, it was time for a change. Two days later, Nic Batum was placed into the starting lineup to replace Marcus Morris, who was ruled out with an illness. After a win over Chicago, Tomer Azarly reported Batum would now be the full-time starter, and Covington would receive the backup minutes at the four spot.

While Lue didn’t commit to Covington’s new role after the game, it was apparent on Wednesday in Memphis. Covington played 32 minutes off the bench as Leonard was a late scratch, went 7-of-7 from 3-point range, and helped the Clippers finish with their fourth-highest offensive rating (in the halfcourt) all season. Shooting a perfect 100% on at least seven 3-point attempts had only been achieved 30 times in NBA history before Covington joined the list.

You could even argue his defensive intensity stuck out more than his catch-and-shoot threat, which seems wild to suggest. But against a younger and more explosive Grizzlies unit, he was exactly what the Clippers needed in a wing that can move his feet, switch onto guards, poke the ball away from bigs, and take away lazy passes.

At 32 years old, with no significant injuries over the last couple years, Covington is still a mobile, high-caliber defender. He may have lost a step when comparing his current movement to how he was operating in Philadelphia or Minnesota four-plus years ago, but his defensive IQ remains elite and superior to most NBA wings.

More importantly, with 10 years of experience, his instincts, knowledge of opponents’ tendencies, and help-defense principles are probably the best on the team. He’s right up there with Batum in recognition of where to be, when to rotate, and toeing the line of when to gamble for steals versus when to stay solid.

Wednesday, after one of the best overall games of Covington’s career that featured 27 points, three steals, and five deflections, Lue lauded the defensive contributions and physicality he provided.

When asked if he’s seen anything quite like Covington’s defensive hands and instincts, he didn’t hesitate.

“No, I mean the deflections — his hands, his ability to block shots when you think he’s not there,” Lue said. “He was huge for us tonight. Unfortunately, we’ve been used to having guys down, our next-man up mentality, it all starts with the guys we have in the locker room. They stay professional and continue to work. Our stay-ready games every single day, just waiting on their opportunity.”

Lue is fully aware of the heavy criticism he’s taken this year for playing certain guys over others. He doesn’t care one bit about social media users putting their coaching hats on, and he doesn’t put stock into fans believing they could correctly manage the rotation.

However, he does acknowledge how tough the situation has been for a few of his players — notably the veterans who would normally be given a larger share of minutes elsewhere.

“If anybody could be disappointed this year, it could be RoCo because he’s a veteran that deserves to play,” he added. “You can’t play everyone. But he’s stepped up and played great for us.”

One quality of Lue that’s been consistent from the moment he took over for Doc Rivers is how strong of a communicator he is within the locker room. Any time a player gets his minutes trimmed, or their role is about to change, he outlines his plan in a private conversation with said player. The communication between them is healthy and regular, which has been appreciated by many role players over the last three years (Covington, Lou Williams, Terance Mann, Reggie Jackson, DeMarcus Cousins, Luke Kennard, and Serge Ibaka are several examples). Those players saw their roles fluctuate during their Clippers tenure, but were always complimentary of the dialogue and how Lue laid out his expectations.

Covington revealed that he and Lue had a conversation on Sunday, the day before LA hosted the Chicago Bulls. According to Covington, Lue told him he’d be a consistent part of the second unit. Because of his participation in “stay ready games,” the term the Clippers use for their intense scrimmages between assistant coaches and players outside of the main rotation, Covington was already mentally prepared. He mentioned how those games have helped him stay in tip-top shape, while the coaches also make sure he’s focused on the “little things,” such as boxing out, collecting rebounds, and disrupting passing lanes.

Following the Clippers’ win over Memphis, Covington’s impact was praised by the locker room. But it goes beyond his production. The constant work he does behind the scenes — just to be prepared for those moments — never go unnoticed.

“His professionalism is something that, for me, goes unmatched,” Westbrook said. “He does an amazing job of staying locked in, working out on days off, and making sure he’s ready to go when guys are not (available). Tonight, you saw it show. I’m happy for him, just to see his work is paying off.”

Looking at this Clippers season through an objective lens, there’s very little justification for Covington taking until the 77th game to eclipse the 700-minute mark.

Per Lucas Hann of 213 Hoops, Covington’s season is on track to become an anomaly. With his contributions as a shooter and disruptive defender, there’s a case Covington will be the most underutilized “3-and-D” role player in history:

Astonishingly, Covington has only shared the floor with Leonard and George for 35 total possessions this season. That’s going to remain the case for the foreseeable future, as long as George is recovering from injury.

Compared to the other combinations involving Leonard and George with another wing (Morris or Batum), it’s evident why Lue hadn’t experimented more with Covington in that role. Per Cleaning The Glass, the Clippers have trotted out Kawhi-PG-Morris for 1,315 possessions this year, yielding a net rating that would rank in the 93rd percentile (really good, despite all of the chatter about Morris having a distasteful year). Meanwhile, Batum has spent 484 possessions next to the Kawhi-PG duo this season. They have torched opposing units by 15.6 points per 100 possessions, ranking in the 99th percentile.

So, it’s not hard to imagine why the coaching staff felt reluctant to call Covington’s number for that particular group. The results weren’t damaging and coaches are always going to default to what appears to be a quality fit — Morris had familiarity (and success) next to the superstar wing tandem. If anything, the bigger question of this season has been the significant minutes gap between Batum and Morris as it pertains to these lineups. Batum offers everything Morris does, but to a higher degree. The decision to swap in Batum as the starter was long overdue.

What remains puzzling, however, is why Covington didn’t get much of a chance in games Leonard or George were sidelined. Lue was still hesitant to give him quality minutes — opportunities that Covington could’ve used to illustrate why he deserves more time on the floor. Accumulating 27 healthy DNPs is truly wild for perhaps the best utility guy on the roster.

On top of his defensive abilities, Covington has accumulated a large sample of quality shooting for the Clippers. Actually, some would say it’s outstanding shooting.

In 67 total games with LA, he’s 100-of-239 from beyond the arc. It doesn’t matter who you are, an efficiency of 41.8% from deep on nearly 250 attempts can’t be ignored.

This season alone, he’s shooting 39.2% from three despite not having time to develop a rhythm or get comfortable with the team’s two superstars.

Digging into those numbers a little deeper, Covington is 43-of-111 on above-the-break threes (38.7%) and 8-of-19 from the corners (42.1%). If he’s a consistent part of the Kawhi-led lineups moving forward, he’s inevitably going to receive more corner looks — defenses have been collapsing on Leonard more than ever, daring him to pass out of traps and trust his teammates.

Covington is 48-of-121 on catch-and-shoot triples (39.7%), which is nearly identical to Batum (39.4%) and even higher than Morris’ output this season (36.6%).

And here’s the thing: Over 82% of Covington’s 3-point attempts this season have come with at least four feet of space. He’s not going to stray away from what makes the Clippers’ offense tick. Their drive, kick, and swing approach has lifted them to a top 10 halfcourt offensive rating since the All-Star break, including the highest 3-point percentage in the league during that span.

He’s willing to be a floor spacer (defenders will react accordingly and start sticking to him on the perimeter if this continues). He’s willing to be a screen-setter to allow Kawhi and others to hunt mismatches.

Covington has played various roles for the five teams he’s been a part of. Luckily for the Clippers, there’s some comfortability when it comes to Covington being a spacer for Westbrook.

During the 2019-20 season, all three of Westbrook, Covington, and Eric Gordon were critical members of the Houston Rockets’ five-out offense. In the second half of the season, they stretched opposing defenses thin and forced them to make tough decisions. When asked if these new lineups with Covington and Gordon remind him of those days, Westbrook gave a smile — perhaps because it led to the most efficient basketball of his career.

“Definitely, especially with (Gordon) and (Covington) out there,” he said. “I played with those guys in Houston. It allows the floor to open up, and those guys shoot the ball at a high level. It allows me to get into the paint and make the right reads.”

Considering the Clippers are tied for No. 1 in spot-up efficiency at 1.13 points per possession, surrounding their top playmakers with formidable shooting options is never a bad thing.

Covington finally appears to be getting his chance. While many would argue it’s a couple months too late, as the Clippers are staring at the possibility of facing a loaded Phoenix Suns unit in the first round, it’s still an important move that could alter the ceiling of this team.