Sixers Trade Rumors: A Robert Covington Reunion Won't Happen After All

The Sixers had strong interest in trading for Robert Covington. But the former 76ers' shooting guard is on his way to Houston.

Another Philadelphia 76ers trade target gets erased from the board. Over the last few weeks or so, the NBA trade rumors have been heating up. And the Sixers have had plenty of interest in multiple shooting guards that other teams have made available.

However, none of them have been linked to the Sixers more than the now-former Minnesota Timberwolves guard, Robert Covington. While Covington was a Sixer just a season ago, Philly knew they had to offer him up in a package in order to roll the dice with NBA All-Star, Jimmy Butler.

But now that Butler is out of the picture, the Sixers could've used somebody like Covington back in the mix once again. So Philly tried to negotiate a deal with Minnesota to get Covington back in a Sixers uniform. Over the last few days, the Sixers were rumored to be at the front of the line for Covington -- but they weren't alone.

The Houston Rockets were the other frontrunner for Covington's services. And after a four-team trade deal was finalized late on Tuesday night, the Sixers lost a top trade target of theirs as Covington was informed he would be a member of the Rockets moving forward.

Sources: Minnesota, Atlanta, Houston and Denver are close to agreement: Robert Covington to Rockets; Clint Capela to the Hawks; Malik Beasley, Juancho Hernangomez, Evan Turner and draft compensation to Timberwolves; expiring contracts and first-rounder to Denver.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 5, 2020

Now it's back to where it all truly started for Covington. While the sixth-year veteran spent the majority of his career with the Sixers, he actually began his NBA journey with Houston back in 2013, where he only played in seven games. The following season, Covington joined the Sixers and grew his career into what it is today.

While the former undrafted guard has developed into a solid player at this point, the Sixers shouldn't feel like they missed out on too much. A reunion with Covington would've been good for team chemistry, but the 29-year-old guard isn't producing as he has before.

Last season, Covington was shooting a solid 39-percent from three before the Sixers traded him to the T'Wolves. Since then, those numbers have gone down. In 22 games last year with Minnesota, Covington shot 37-percent from deep. This year, only 34-percent.

The idea of Covington coming back sounded good as the Sixers need a reliable three-point shooter to come off the bench and produce. However, the numbers prove that the former Sixer is no longer producing at the same rate. In hindsight, the Sixers could end up being better off without Covington and trading for somebody new.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_