Rockets trade Clint Capela, Nene, Green, pick for Robert Covington

In a four-team deal, the Houston Rockets have sent Clint Capela to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Robert Covington.

Robert Covington is headed back to where his NBA career started, as the Houston Rockets traded Clint Capela, Gerald Green, Nene and a first-round pick in exchange for Covington, Jordan Bell and a second-round pick on Tuesday.

We have been speculating on the Rockets’ need to target Covington as far back as last July, when we broke down why the 6-7 forward would make a good addition to the roster if Houston struck out on Andre Iguodala. We’ve also broken down what he could bring to the team if he found his way back to H-Town, which is highlighted by defense and 3-point shooting.

The reunion is finally happening, as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski dropped the bomb of the trade late Tuesday night.

ESPN Sources: 4-team trade agreement: Houston: Robert Covington; Atlanta: Clint Capela and Nene; Minnesota: Malik Beasley, Juancho Hernangomez, Evan Turner, ATL 1st round pick via Nets; Denver: Gerald Green, Houston FRP.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 5, 2020

Covington is a career 35.8 percent shooter from downtown and has career averages of 12.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. More importantly, Robert has demonstrated high-level defense in the past, earning him an NBA All-Defensive First Team selection in 2018. While his defense has dropped off as of late, he is less than two years removed from earning that award, so he has a decent chance of returning to that form on a new team with championship aspirations.

Speculation from the day didn’t seem to include Green and Nene previously, however they may have had to join the mix once it was reported that Golden State was dropping out of the planned four-team deal.

Shams Charania also reported shortly after Wojnarowski that the Rockets will be receiving Jordan Bell and a second-round pick in the deal. Rockets Insider Alykhan Bijani also shared that Houston is not done making moves and is actively searching for a center.

Sources: Despite the recent additions via trade, the #Rockets are not done yet making moves and will continue to be active before the trade deadline as they search for a center.

— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) February 5, 2020

Given Bell is a 6-8 center, he, Isaiah Hartenstein and Tyson Chandler are now the only true bigs on the team, and the latter two have hardly seen the floor this season. It will be interesting to see what else Daryl Morey and the Rockets have up their sleeves as the trade deadline approaches.

We’ll have much more on the implications of this trade in the coming days as the Rockets look to head into the All-Star break with a new look. We’ll also have this page updated with more specific deal information as it is shared with us.