Would it have been all that shocking had this little experiment not worked out?
Sam Hinkie likely found Robert Covington, an undrafted four-year player out of Tennessee, through the former Rockets’ Vice President’s familiarity with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers -- the squad Covington would spend the lion’s share of his rookie campaign with. Picking up Covington on a four-year non-guaranteed deal could easily be seen as a mere business formality at the time, perhaps a tip from old mentor Daryl Morey. And many Sixers observers could reasonably foresee the 6’9” forward joining the Jarvis Varnados and Brandon Davies of the world as non-NBA talents spun through the Philadelphia 10-day cycle.