With Sam Hinkie crafting and reshuffling a roster to fit his long-term vision, he has found a few fresh apples in the orchard he’s trying to build. The Elliot Williams, James Anderson and Jakarr Sampson projects that Hinkie took fliers on flopped, but Robert Covington has emerged as a staple on the perimeter for the Sixers.

Like many Sam Hinkie free agent signings, otherwise known as the “Hinkie Special,” Covington joined the organization, in 2014, on a team-friendly contract with little risk attached. He previously tore up the D-League in the 2013-14 season, to the tune of 23.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game on Houston’s D-League affiliate Rio Grande.

Rewarded with a three-year deal as a free agent after being waived by Houston before the 2014-15 season, Covington, initially, had a limited role as an unknown NBA commodity. D-League MVP isn’t a label that will propel you to consistent minutes on a drastically more rigorous level. Covington had to fight for playing time in the NBA, even on a historically inept Sixers team.

As Brett Brown started to utilize the 25-year-old combo forward off the bench as a second unit volume shooter, the Sixers started to become more competent on the court. Covington recorded a career-high, at the time, 31 minutes in Philadelphia’s first victory in 18 games last season. Dropping 20 or more points in four out of the five games after the contest forced Brown’s hand.

Covington’s confidence evidently grew with the heightened role as Brown would name him the starting small forward on Dec. 10. Covington would go on to average 13.5 PPG and 4.5 RPG, while shooting 39.6 percent on the season. The productions of the Tennessee State product stood out in the 18-64 nightmarish campaign, but Covington’s two-way impact showed that promise existed outside of just Nerlens Noel’s development.

Per basketball-reference.com, the Sixers had a plus-6.5 offensive rating with Covington on the court-as opposed to him sitting. The team’s steal percentage, block percentage and rebounding percentage all increased with Covington flashing the No. 33 jersey on the court and making plays for the team. He became the ideal three-and-D wing Philadelphia had to pillage for on the free agent market. However, Covington hasn’t replicated his 2014-15 campaign numbers. Covington still is green to the NBA game, in just his second professional season, so regression was likely.

It’s been arduous 2015-16 seasons for both Covington and Philadelphia, currently 8-54 on the season. The forward is averaging 11.8 PPG while shooting an unsightly 38.4 percent from the floor and 34.2 percent from deep. Evidenced by the chart below, Covington is having difficulty shooting efficiently from many areas on the floor-outside of near the basket.

Even in the midst of a positive 10-game stretch offensively (13.5 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 41.2 percent field-goal percentage), the sporadic offensive efficiency is a product of his supporting cast and his deficiencies.

Covington is considerably limited offensively due to his inability to drive to the basket and for his teammates’ inability to create efficient looks for him. Covington regularly has to use a ball screen in order to generate a semblance of offense outside of a jump shot.

Ish Smith, who has thrived in spurts since joining Philadelphia, usually dribble penetrates and looks for a big down low, whose defender slides over to help. Unless Covington slides around the perimeter in order for the journeyman to locate him, the forward is completely left out of the play.

On offense, Covington is the prototypical catch-and-shoot wing-taking just over 70 percent of his shots without putting the ball on the floor. He regularly gets passes dished out on the perimeter in order to hoist and subsequently fire. Since his teammates lack creativity on offense, Covington usually has his defender located relatively near him when he shoots.

This is vintage Robert Covington. Per nbastats.com, 57.6 percent of his shots come off of catch-and-shoot attempts. With only Jahlil Okafor commanding consistent double teams on offense, Covington is devoid of marginal space to operate with. For any three-point marksman, this is obviously pivotal. However, his issue is twofold.

Covington is the Sixers’ bulkiest wing, operating with a 6’9”, 215-pound frame. He needs Smith, and Philadelphia’s bigs, to set ball screens that allows him to catch the ball in fortuitous scenarios to launch triples. Covington won’t circulate throughout the perimeter as much as guards Nik Stauskas or Hollis Thompson do and cut to the basket. The failure to be a threat off-ball has relegated Covington to expand his range and take shots from basically North Broad Street.

With added talent, via free agency and through the draft, Covington will have less of a burden to create offense. He can be one of the primary three-point aces for Brett Brown, which could help ease his transition into a long-term role player. Defensively, he has more upside on the less glamorous end.

Covington’s 6’9” frame plays at both forward positions defensively. He can rotate against slashing guards, stifling them usually with an obvious height advantage. Against burly power forwards, Covington rarely gets bullied in the post and has a chiseled frame made for contact. His impact, on the defensive, is shown via statistics.

He’s second on the team with a 105 DRtg (Defensive Rating), per sports-reference.com, to defensive savant Nerlens Noel. Basically, Covington only lets up 1.05 points per possession, tying Boston’s Avery Bradley and fellow combo forward Tobias Harris. Covington also has continued being a pest on the defensive end, with a career-high 1.5 SPG. Here, Covington reacts appropriately to Nicolas Batum’s lax offensive approach, swipes the ball and takes it the distance for the opposite end flush.

Despite lacking ideal athleticism for a wing, Covington can make plays solely based on his build. He won’t block shots (0.6 BPG) and be an enforcer on the boards for Brett Brown, but the third-year forward is an instinctual athlete that will fight for loose balls and be in the right spot for a rebound or steal.

Even though Covington has started recently at the 4 with Okafor sidelined with a shin injury, his long-term position might be at small forward, as Dario Saric expected to join the team this offseason. He’s more adept at handling wings defensively instead of more imposing bigs, and is Philadelphia’s primary source of production at the 3 on offense.

Moving forward, Covington should continue to be a spot starter at power forward in case of an injury to one of the frontcourt options. Primarily, he looks to be Philadelphia’s three-and-D talent, whether he comes off the bench, if Philadelphia lands either Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram in the draft, or as a starter. Making $1.015 million next season, the Sixers will get a cost-controlled look to see if Covington is a legitimate high-end role player.

With more weapons around him, Covington will generate open and efficient shot attempts from behind the arc and continue to provide stout defense. Even with an intentional lacking supporting cast, that will likely be upgraded vastly this offseason, Robert Covington looks to be a long-term fit as a two-way wing.