2. Robert Covington
Robert Covington’s impact as a player is hard to quantify, so it’s difficult to measure how much he’s worth monetarily.
RoCo is an immeasurably great defender, but not in the sense of a Kawhi Leonard or Jimmy Butler. His impact is more in the margins as a zone defender who makes timely rotations and fills lanes to disrupt the opponent’s attack.
On offense, he’s a certified sniper who converted 38 percent of his five 3-point attempts last season. He’s the prototype model of a 3-and-D wing.
Each and every team in the league could use RoCo’s elite backline defense and floor spacing and a lot of clubs will be willing to dig deep into their purses to obtain his services. Aaron Gordon just received a four-year/$88 million bag for similar production.
Taking into account Gordon’s advantages in youth, athleticism, and potential, along with the Denver Nuggets need to overpay to retain talent as a small market team, Covington might not land such a prosperous deal, but it should be in the same area code.
Look for Covington to cash in on a sizable raise this offseason, hopefully in Rip City. If there’s one player that the Trail Blazers need to retain, it’s RoCo — for obvious reasons.
Predicted contract: Four-years/$68 million