Covington is Off to a Forgettable Start with the Blazers

The Trail Blazers shipped out two first-round picks and Trevor Ariza for veteran 3-and-D forward Robert Covington in the offseason. Following the NBA’s opening month, CBS Sports NBA contributor Colin Ward-Henninger examined how a handful of key players are meshing with their new surroundings. Covington’s 14-game debut with the Blazers made that list.

Ward-Henninger pointed to Covington’s lagging shooting numbers and Portland’s overall defensive struggles in his assessment.

A career 35 percent 3-point shooter, Covington is making just 30 percent of his 5.2 attempts per game this season and shooting 31 percent overall while averaging 6.6 points per game. Keep in mind that Covington hasn’t averaged fewer than 12 points per game since his rookie season. Overall the Blazers have the third-worst defense in the NBA, which assuredly isn’t what they pictured when they made the deal for Covington, and it could get worse with Jusuf Nurkic out for an extended period of time due to a broken wrist.

To start the season, the former Rockets forward is averaging 6.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. From the field, Covington has recorded a career-low field goal percentage of 31.4.

You can read Ward-Henninger’s complete rundown of players in new places at CBS Sports.