By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
With just a little over a week until the NBA draft, the Philadelphia 76ers picked up Robert Covington's option for the upcoming season. RoCo has been a staple on this rebuilding Sixers team and he's come at a bargain. It wasn't really a hard decision for the Sixers in exercising the option with the contributions he's provided the Sixers since joining the team in 2014.
Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo announced today the team has exercised the contract option on forward Robert Covington for the 2017-18 season.
In 204 games (165 starts) over the course of three seasons with the Sixers, Covington holds averages of 13 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals per game while shooting 35 percent from three-point range and 81 percent from the free-throw line. His 170 made three-pointers in 2015-16 were the fifth-most ever in a season by a Sixers player, and his 474 threes are already fifth-most in franchise history behind Allen Iverson, Kyle Korver, Andre Iguodala and Hersey Hawkins.
Covington, 26, will make $1.5 million in 2017-18, which is an absolute steal for a guy of his caliber. Sure, he isn't an NBA superstar, but he provides the Sixers with a plus scoring option and top of the line defense on a regular basis. Last season for the Sixers, Covington averaged 12.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.5 assists per game, shooting 39.3 percent from the floor. He ranked fourth in the NBA in steals per game during the 2016-17 season and his 129 total steals were good for 11th in the league.
Bryan Colangelo can start working on a new contract extension starting in July if they want and will have the opportunity to renegotiate his deal in November. A source tells Liberty Ballers that Covington's future with the franchise is one of their top priorities. That's no surprise considering his scoring and top defensive skillset make him a valuable commodity in the current NBA. Depending on where the Sixers go in the draft, he could very well be their starting small forward for the upcoming season.
The Philadelphia 76ers signed Covington on November 15, 2014 after he spent the majority of the 2013-14 season with the Houston Rockets D-League affiliate.
