The Rockets have a total of two "big deals" this season, presumably everyone has already understood, the first is that last summer offseason, the Rockets used the team's second-place scorer Chris Paul in exchange for one of the Thunder's double cores, Wei Shao, although Wei Shao first came to the Rockets, it seemed to be slightly unfamiliar with Harden in tactics, but after more than ten games, Wei Shao perfectly adapted to the Rockets' new tactics, and D'Antoni no longer let Wei Shao act as a no-ball shooter, but let Wei Shao constantly impact the inside score.
After Yao Ming and Howard, the Rockets' interior line has never had a super scorer in the lineup, Capela is excellent and abnormal, but his interior scoring ability in the league center is also a medium stop, in addition to the inside line to eat cake, there is basically no efficient scoring means, for a period of time Capet pulled away a small hook, but because the shooting rate is not high, but also D'Antoni helplessly "shouted stop".
Another deal is about Capela, Cayo replaced Covington, not only sent Capela, but also let the Rockets take another 3 chips: veteran Nene, shooter Gerald Green and a first-round pick, now it seems that Covington's deal is obviously not as dazzling as Westbrook, but The arrival of Covington can be regarded as a major change in the Rockets' style.
We know that the Rockets sent Capela in exchange for Covington, just to carry out the small-ball tactics to the end, after all, the lineup of big centers has reached the upper limit, and there is no longer the courage and confidence for the Rockets to persist. Therefore, D'Antoni's "sword to the side" to try, maybe it will reap miraculous results. And the Rockets' 11-win and 8-loss record after changing to small-ball tactics is also completely justified, as long as the Rockets strengthen the run-in, the Rockets are fully capable of fighting with the Lakers and Clippers.
This has to say about the Rockets' new forward Covington. Robert Covington is only 2.01 meters tall, and his position is a forward swingman, although he has played for the Rockets for a period of time, but he has not been reused. Now that Covington has become the league's high-quality 3D, it has become the most important tactical core point of the Rockets in addition to Harden and Westbrook. In the Rockets' 14 games, Covington not only averaged 12.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, but also averaged 2.5 blocks and 1.3 steals per game.
Nowadays, the rockets' player position is more and more "thick lines", look at the players reused by D'Antoni, basically each can be competent in 2-3 positions, Covington can cover the front line and the interior line 3 positions, averaging 2.5 blocks per game or even losing the peak period of Harukapela, and averaging 7.9 rebounds per game, but also makes Covington become an indispensable member of the Rockets' internal line.
With only a few games to gain a foothold in the Rockets, Covington has become an important chip for the Rockets to compete for the title in the coming years. It is worth mentioning that Covington is not only good at ball skills, but also very loving, and can also be said to be "able to be a man". Although he has been traded by the Timberwolves to the Rockets, Covington posted tributes on his social media after learning of the death of his former teammate Towns' mother. "We'll miss you, Mrs. Downs!" Hope you can take good care of your loved ones in heaven. Covington wrote. The Rockets were able to trade Capela to Covington, which may have had a limited impact on the Rockets, but in fact it was an unusually shrewd trade for the Rockets.