NBA Advanced Stats support RoCo alternative
In short, Covington cannot be the top defender and serve as the best outside shooting option for the team. And that means that the team must stagger some lineups. While Jerryd Bayless will take Redick’s starting role for now, the optimal lineups for the team would be wise to pair Covington with Joel Embiid. Per NBA Advanced stats, this pairing has the highest rated player impact estimate (PIE) in the NBA at 60.3. The next best non-Embiid pairing is Covington with Ben Simmons, rated at a very respectable 55.2. In fact, after Embiid, Covington is one of the most impactful players on the team.
And even moreso, on three man lineups, two of the NBA’s best three man lineups include Robert Covington. Covington, Embiid and Saric are the second rated three-man, while Covington, Embiid, and Simmons comes in as the fourth rated NBA three-man lineup.
While this validates considering Robert Covington for a larger role on offense, how does the team go about making better use of his proficiency, while waiting for Redick to return to health? Ah, but the answer lies in NBA Advanced Stats.