Trail Blazers get: Robert Covington
Rockets get: Trevor Ariza, a 2020 first-round pick (No. 16) and a 2021 protected first-round pick
Portland Trail Blazers: B+
Portland's regression from the 2019 Western Conference finals to below-.500 in 2019-20 was almost entirely about the defensive end of the court. Powered by Damian Lillard, the Blazers' offensive rating ranked third in the NBA during the regular season, ahead of all four teams that made the conference finals. Yet Portland dropped from 16th to 27th in defensive rating, dousing high expectations entering the campaign.
The Blazers were even worse than that on defense with Ariza unavailable during their run to the eighth seed in the seeding games. Portland boasted the league's best offensive rating in bubble play, but their defensive rating was 20th out of 22 teams.
A full season from frontcourt starters Zach Collins and Jusuf Nurkic -- who were limited to a combined three games before play stopped and were evidently shaking off the rust in the bubble before Collins was shut down by another injury -- will help. But the Blazers also needed to improve their personnel at forward, where they missed Al-Farouq Aminu and Maurice Harkless after both starters departed in the summer of 2019.
Covington isn't a perfect fit in this regard, given that he is better as a help defender than in one-on-one situations. The Los Angeles Lakers were able to expose that limitation during their five-game playoff series win over the Rockets. Still, Portland needs any kind of quality defenders it can get, and Covington will be a major upgrade. He also is a better offensive player than Aminu and Harkless, whose limitations there were an issue during playoff runs.
At 29, Covington is an ideal fit in terms of Portland's timeline alongside Blazers stars Lillard (30) and CJ McCollum (29). Covington is on a favorable contract that pays him like a fringe starter over the next two seasons, part of the reason he has twice commanded multiple first-round picks.
Neil Olshey, the Blazers' president of basketball operations, has zealously guarded the team's draft picks since giving up a first-rounder for Arron Afflalo in a deal at the 2015 trade deadline. That probably made it easier for Portland to part with two of them now. The Blazers already have recent first-round picks Nassir Little and Anfernee Simons in their development pipeline, not to mention 2018 second-round pick Gary Trent Jr., a breakout performer last season.
Houston Rockets: B
We already knew this, but the Daryl Morey/Mike D'Antoni era in Houston is officially over. Morey's last big swing as the team's basketball executive was giving up two first-round picks -- one of them acquired for center Clint Capela -- to get Covington from the Minnesota Timberwolves before the trade deadline. That trade made D'Antoni's move toward lineups without a traditional center permanent, which seems a distant memory with Morey and D'Antoni gone and the Rockets' stars reportedly wanting out.
From a value standpoint, Houston basically broke even on the two trades. The two first-rounders involved in February's Covington trade ended up No. 17 (from the Atlanta Hawks for Capela to Minnesota) and No. 22 (the Rockets' own pick, sent to Denver as the fourth team involved in the deal). Now, Houston is getting back the 16th pick, as well as Portland's protected 2021 first-rounder.
In terms of salary, this deal should be a wash next season. Covington is set to make $12.2 million and Ariza $12.8 million. Although Ariza's contract is just $1.8 million guaranteed through Friday, making this deal will require the two teams to increase his guarantee to at least $7.2 million. At that point, it surely makes more sense for Houston to keep him.
Besides converting much of Covington's value back into needed draft picks, then, the real impact of this move is suggesting the Rockets plan to go back to more conventional lineups in 2020-21. A key part of Covington's appeal to Houston back in February was his ability to protect the rim at 6-foot-7. He averaged 2.2 blocks per game after the trade, a mark that would have ranked fourth in the league over the course of the full season.
Despite being an inch taller, the 6-foot-8 Ariza is a more traditional 3-and-D wing, the role he played for the Rockets in happier times -- up through Game 7 of the 2018 Western Conference finals -- before leaving in free agency. Houston could certainly stand to upgrade its perimeter defense, and Ariza will probably battle Eric Gordon and Danuel House Jr. to reclaim his starting job if the Rockets' roster stays as is.
That lineup configuration would leave an opening at center, one Houston could fill through the draft or free agency. With centers devalued around the league, the Rockets shouldn't have much trouble attracting a starter-caliber player despite likely being limited to the $5.7 million taxpayer midlevel exception.
We'll see whether bringing Ariza back does anything to assuage the concerns James Harden and Russell Westbrook have shared with Houston's management. If not, moving Covington now still helps the Rockets get out in front of a coming rebuild.