Trade deadline misses for the Chicago Bulls: Robert Covington
Two of the biggest impact players that Karnisovas and Eversley could’ve gone after around the deadline that would’ve dramatically improved this Bulls rotation down the stretch this season are Harrell and the former Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets versatile forward Robert Covington. It really didn’t cost the Los Angeles Clippers a whole lot to get Covington from the Blazers ahead of the trade deadline earlier in the week.
The Clippers got both Covington and breakout scoring guard/wing Norman Powell from Portland a few days ahead of the trade deadline by giving up guard Eric Bledsoe, wing Justise Winslow, rookie shooting guard Keon Johnson, and a future second-round draft pick.
There’s so much good that Covington likely could’ve done for the Bulls that it’s hard to see why this wouldn’t make sense for this squad. The problem that the Bulls could’ve encountered, though, in trying to acquire Covington from Portland was the fact that Blazers management likely wanted their trade partner to take on some larger contracts.
That’s where it made more sense for the Blazers to give up a lot of value to try and get more cap space by giving up the likes of Covington and Powell. While the duo of Covington and Powell is certainly going to help the Clippers right away, they also will cost a lot for the next few years.
The main way I would say it would’ve made sense for the Bulls to go after Covington in hindsight was if all the Blazers wanted was some return involving the likes of DJJ and TBJ and maybe a future second-rounder. Giving up DJJ and someone like point guard Coby White would’ve been pretty expensive for the Bulls.