Sixers sign Poythress with Covington, Okafor out for season

The Philadelphia 76ers were granted a roster hardship exception following the injury news about Robert Covington and Jahlil Okafor, and signed D-League forward Alex Poythress.

Poythress has been playing this season with the D-League Ft. Wayne Mad Ants, averaging 18.5 points and 7.1 rebounds in 31.1 minutes per game across 46 contests. 

Meanwhile, Robert Covington is done for the year after an MRI showed a slight tear of his lateral meniscus. It was a successful season for RoCo, especially considering his shooting slumps throughout the year. He finished the season averaging 12.9 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game while shooting 39.9 percent overall and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. Covington was by far the teams' most skilled perimeter defense this season, ranking third in the NBA in steals, and best in deflections with 4.9 per game. To put some of his stats in context, Brian Seltzer dug a little deeper.

Jahlil Okafor ends his second NBA season after 50 games, averaging 11.8 points and 4.8 rebounds while shooting 51.4 percent from the floor. Okafor's season came to an end after continuing to experience right knee soreness from his meniscus surgery that he underwent last March. Despite Jahlil's shortcomings on the court this year, he handled the Sixers' center logjam with the utmost professionalism. Head coach Brett Brown 

“I think that all of us would look at some of those games that he did have opportunity, and was able to get his touches, and he scores,” said Brown. “He scores in his sleep…and just can put buckets up in big ways when he’s playing.” [Sixers.com]

Even though his season was shortened, the Sixers could very well try to trade Okafor leading up to draft night with the way Richaun Holmes has emerged over the past few weeks since the Nerlens Noel trade. There probably won't be a great market for him though, so the Sixers may have to settle for a pair of second round picks for him, if not less.

 

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