No. 2: Robert Covington
2017-18 defensive stats: 1.7 steals, 0.9 blocks, 2.1 defensive box +/-, 4.5 defensive win shares
Ranking a member of the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team at No. 2 on this list might be a little blasphemous, but the man at No. 1 is pretty deserving of his ranking. Covington finishes second here because although he played strong D pretty consistently, he had his fair share of boneheaded gambles on defense this past season. But aside from those occasional mental lapses, he proved himself as one of the most important players on Philly’s roster, mostly because of his defense.
When he plays at the top of his game, Cov instantly becomes one of the hardest men to shake in the NBA. He continued his trend of disrupting the path of any ball coming his way: he averaged 3.9 deflections per game this past season, good for second-most in the league. The 6-foot-8 small forward finished second on the team in defensive win shares and had the fourth-best defensive box plus-minus out of anyone on the Philadelphia 76ers, and he finished ninth in the league in steals with 1.7 per game in 2017/18.
Covington represents the Sixers in the captain’s huddle before every game, and for good reason. He is more than just the longest-tenured player on the team: he has consistently played with 100 percent effort in his four seasons as a 76er, even though the franchise was trotting out some of the worst starting lineups the NBA has ever seen for the majority of the beginning of his time in Philly.
Watching the Tennessee State alum blossom from an unknown undrafted free agent into one of the league’s best perimeter defenders has been fun and heartwarming, and now he is one of the most important players on a contending team. But Cov misses out on the top spot to one of the NBA’s most game-changing and valuable defenders.