Should the Blazers Extend Robert Covington?

Portland Trail Blazers power forward Robert Covington is currently eligible for an extension as he heads into a contract year. HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto and Yossi Gozlan discussed Covington’s current status on their podcast. The duo also speculated that the future of Damian Lillard might impact the forward’s next contract.

Scotto believes an offer around the $15 million-would be a win for both sides.

If Damian Lillard stays in Portland, I think there will be more of an urgency to re-sign Covington. If the team can agree to a team-friendly contract extension with him around $15 million annually or so, maybe they do it thinking it’s decent value and he can always be traded later on.

Gozlan adds the Blazers would be wise to extend Covington regardless of Lillard’s next step.

He’s eligible right now for an extension worth about $70 million over four years. I could see him getting around that amount with Portland, it’s slightly over $15 million, maybe close to $17 million. I think that’s pretty fair value for him. A decision could depend on what happens with Dame, but I think that’s a fine extension with or without him. If things change and they want to maybe go towards a rebuild if things don’t work out, they should still be able to trade that contract later if they need to.

Last season, Covington averaged 8.5 points on 38 percent three-point shooting, 6.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.9 blocks.

You can listen to the Covington discussion here 10 minutes in.