NBA: 5 pros and cons from the Jimmy Butler trade
By Kyle Crabbe
Pro 4 – Covington and Saric could potentially be great fits in Minnesota
The additions of 3-and-D Robert Covington and Dario Saric have the potential to be excellent fits in Minnesota. Some of the early season struggles that have plagued the Timberwolves could be potentially solved thru this trade.
The Timberwolves have struggled all season at playing a high level of team defense. With Tom Thibodeau known for he great defenses, the product the 2018-19 Wolves have put out hasn’t been of great reflection of what many would project from a Thibodeau led NBA team. Here is where trading for Robert Covington is a huge plus.
Jimmy Butler is a elite two-way player in the NBA but Robert Covington can hold his own as one of the NBA’s better perimeter defensive players. So far for the 2018-19 season, Covington has been the better individual defensive player and has posted better advanced defensive numbers than Butler; better defensive rating (Butler: 110, Covington: 108), greater defensive Win Shares (Covington: 0.9, Butler: 0.5), and greater Defensive Box Plus Minus (Covington: 2.4, Butler: 0.5). For a team struggling with their defense Covington will be of great help.
Covington is also a greater fit offensively for his compatibility with Wolves’ Andrew Wiggins. For Wiggins to excel he needs to get a greater number of offensive opportunities game for game. Playing with another offensively dominate wing player like Jimmy Butler wasn’t a particular great fit for Andrew Wiggins. Covington will no demand many shots and touches but will spread the floor for Wiggins and Towns for Covington is a great shooter, shooting from 3-point range at a 41 percent clip.
The biggest difference could be shown in the usage rate, with the usage rate basically being a number to show how many percentage of plays a player is directly involved offensively. Jimmy Butler in Minnesota usage rate was at a star level at 23.0 whereas Covington usage rate is only 12.9. To further the example, in Andrew Wiggins best season so far in the NBA, 2016-17 where he averaged a career best 23.6 points per game, Wiggins usage rate for that season was 29.0. Covington will allow Wiggins to get back to being the offensive juggernaut he was trending toward before the arrival of Jimmy Butler.
Dario Saric gives the Timberwolves a very versatile weapon to add depth to their bench. With the surprise of potential 6th Man of the Year coming from Derrick Rose off the T-Wolves bench, adding Saric to that bench makes that a strength for the team and a possible advantage in the tough Western Conference.