NBA Rumors: Philadelphia 76ers Still in the Mix for Robert Covington

The NBA trade market has finally started up this week as the deadline moves closer. Earlier on Thursday, the Atlanta Hawks and the Minnesota Timberwolves finalized a deal. And according to a report from The Athletic, Minnesota's front office isn't entirely done making deals just yet.

Currently, the Timberwolves possess a veteran guard on their roster, who has reportedly drawn tons of interest over the last month or so. The Six-year veteran, Robert Covington, has had his name in trade rumors since last year.

As Covington went into the 2018-2019 NBA season as a part of the Philadelphia 76ers, he would quickly find out he was headed to Minnesota to join the T'Wolves, as Philly decided to take on the superstar that is Jimmy Butler.

Covington played a solid 22 games for the Timberwolves last season as he averaged a career-high 14 points-per-game, shooting 43-percent from the field. But the former 76ers guard hasn't seen the same success in 39 games so far this season, as his three-point shooting percentage and his average scoring is down.

However, just because Covington isn't thriving in his role with Minnesota right now, doesn't mean the Timberwolves front office is trying to push him out.

Despite getting a ton of calls regarding the availability of the veteran guard, Minnesota isn't giving him up for pennies. According to Jon Krawczynski and Shams Charania, Minnesota is "expected to drive a hard bargain."

That message hasn't scared away everybody, though. Covington has still drawn much interest from multiple teams around the NBA. And according to The Athletic's report, the Philadelphia 76ers are in the mix for a potential reunion with Covington.

If you saw the report from The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor last week, then it won't come as surprise the 76ers are making calls for Covington. But considering a lot can change in the NBA trading game over a week, it was unclear if Philly still had a chance at Covington.

While they are in a trade war with the Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks, the Sixers are still very much interested in one of their former developments. As the Sixers need more reliable perimeter scoring and also love tough defense, Covington is the perfect candidate to come off the Sixers bench for the second half of the season going into the playoffs.

It's unclear if the former Sixer is their top priority trade target or not. Either way, though, Philly's front office is going to be on the hunt for multiple players who are available. Being that their chances of landing Covington once again are somewhat slim, the Sixers are going to need a Plan B to ensure they end up with at least some help -- because they're going to need it if they truly want to make an impact in the postseason.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_