http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/235150/Rockets-Parting-With-Robert-Covington

Houston apparently has "decided to release forward Robert Covington while continuing to listen on trade interest" whatever the hell that means. I mean, either he's released and no longer your property or he's still your property and you try to work out a trade, no? I found that line odd. I guess Morey will take it down to the wire to see if he can get a trade for this guy before releasing him outright.

If they cut this guy loose I'm interested, even with the glut we have at SF. This guy's a real solid player; probably the best player in the DL last year. Definitely an NBA player imo. 6'9" 215, still young--only 23 yrs old, strong build, excellent outside shooter, puts it on the floor and gets to the rim well, above average rebounder for a 3 and he's a factor defensively, evident by his solid steal & block totals. I used to think Devin Ebanks was the top SF in the NBDL but this guy's probably even better. Probably just as good or a better than quite a few similar players in the NBA -- Marcus Morris, Chris Copeland, etc... Not just a one year wonder in the NBDL btw -- this guy put up solid numbers every year across the board at Tenn. State too. Not too many guys contribute in all areas. This guy does: 3-pt FG %, scoring, rebounding, blocks, steals.

Do we cut Travis Outlaw and immediately sign this guy to an NBA contract? I think I would, man. I know Outlaw has value as an expiring contract this year ($3mm) but (1) it's a negligible amount in any trade---I'd like to think that whatever trade Phil may come up with by the deadline could be worked out without the inclusion of Travis Outlaw and (2) Covington is clearly the better talent with much more upside compared to Outlaw. Plus, Covington would have better value in a trade over Outlaw anyway imo... It'd be nice to shed a contract or 2 and move forward with Covington and Travis Wear...

Or do we explore a trade with Houston? That Rocket team is ready to win pretty much -- could they be interested in a savvy vet like Pablo Prigioni? I wouldn't mind getting my hands on Isaiah Canaan + Covington. Sounds like Morey might be looking to reduce a crowded roster. He might be looking to make a 2 for 1 deal. Prigioni + a future 2nd rounder for Covington or Covington/Canaan (and we cut Outlaw)? We do have other pieces to include as well to make something like that work if we so chose... If I'm Phil, I might call Morey up just to see where it goes. Then again, maybe we play it cool and don't call but monitor the situation closely. Gauge interest around the league -- if there's real mounting interest in this guy (which I get the feeling Morey's trying to drum up), make the call and throw our hat in the ring. If not, sit tight and if they do cut this man outright, pounce immediately---cut Outlaw and offer Covington a contract. The name of the game is amassing talent and this guy's too good a player to pass up imo, even with guys like Early, Thanasis and Travis Wear already in the fold (well maybe not Wear yet but he probably will be, at least with a DL contract to start out). Covington should've been drafted in 2013. He played like a legit draft pick leaving college as a 4-yr player and looked like a lottery pick in the DL last year.

CrushAlot wrote:Sixers waived Jarvis Varnado.

Utah just waived Dee Bost and Kevin Murphy. Murphy looks to have considerable upside as a scoring 2G. A lot of talent may begin to become available around the league. Gotta see if anyone makes more sense than what we currently have.