Waiver Wire Spotlight - Week 11

Robert Covington (PHI, SF/PF)

One of the rising sharpshooters in the NBA, Covington has begun to take advantage of the opportunity available to him Philadelphia. Due to the lack of assets in Philadelphia at the Forward positions, Covington has gotten a starting role locked up which warrants fantasy owners to take a look at Covington’s production. Covington is currently owned in just 34.4% of leagues, so he provides exceptional value with his shooting for someone that could be found on the waiver wire. In the 2014-2015 season, Robert Covington is amongst the league’s elite shooters. Covington has posted 11.8 Points, 3.6 Rebounds, 0.9 Assists, and 0.9 Steals on the season so far. Covington is also currently ranked 12th in the NBA in 3’s per game averaging 2.3 3-pointers a game.

On a Per 36 Minute Basis, Covington ranks 9th in 3PM Per 36 Minutes with an outstanding average 3.8. Covington’s tremendous value doesn’t just lie within his 3-point shooting. Covington is among the leagues best free throw shooters as well. Covington ranks 35th in the NBA in FT% with his average of 90.7 FT%. Due to his top-tier 3-Point and Free Throw shooting, Covington locks in an exceptional 61.1% True Shooting Percentage (TS%). Covington’s 42 FG% isn’t as phenomenal as his 3-point or free-throw shooting, but it is still a decent percentage; owners shouldn’t worry too much about this factor when looking into picking up Covington. Over the last five games, Covington has shown tremendous production across the board with averages of 17 points, 1.2 steals, 1 block, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.6 3PM. This should be very encouraging for potential owners because it shows that Covington is much more than a one-dimensional 3-Point Shooter.

One of the most important things when determining the value of a shooter is the system that he is in. Although Philadelphia is struggling, to say the least, Coach Brett Brown has given Robert Covington the green light to let it fly. Coach Brown’s trust in Covington led to Covington getting a solid role as a starter for Philadelphia. This combined with an offense led by floor general Michael Carter-Williams allows Covington to get a lot of open looks for three throughout the course of a game. Throughout the season, Covington is currently playing an average of 21.5 minutes a game. This is deceptive to potential owners because early in the season, Covington wasn’t a starter, and wasn’t given that many opportunities. However, since he was given the starting job his minutes per game have skyrocketed.

Over the past 5 games, Covington is averaging 31.4 minutes per game. Robert Covington is an extremely valuable option of the waiver wire due to his ability to provide elite contributions in 3’s and Free throws as well as providing solid numbers in multiple categories such as points, rebounds, steals, and blocks. If Covington is able to keep this up, Coach Brett Brown might give Covington even more minutes which would make his already solid production even better. Covington’s ability to thrive in the 76ers offense along with his starting position locked up should make potential owners see him as a long-term option which supplies elite shooting and decent contributions in all other categories.