“Something Isn’t Quite Right With the Sixers” is the name of a Kevin O’Connor piece over at The Ringer.

It’s another national story that explores the fit of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid on the same team and then gets into some video clips showing Simmons as a screener, which we’ve seen more of recently from Brett Brown.

The part of the story we’re focusing on is this:

The Sixers have expressed interest in a long list of wings, including Malik Beasley (Nuggets), Glenn Robinson III (Warriors), Davis Bertans (Wizards), E’Twaun Moore (Pelicans), and Andre Iguodala (Grizzlies), according to multiple league sources. Most interestingly, sources say the Sixers inquired about Robert Covington, whom they dealt to the Timberwolves in 2018 in the Butler trade. I reported last month that Covington is available, and that is still the case. But Minnesota could have so many bidders for Covington that the price will be too high for Philadelphia to make a reunion a reality.

A Covington return doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. The Sixers have a younger Robert Covington in Matisse Thybulle, a 3 and D player that they really like and would be hesitant to move. Covington was dealt to Minnesota in the Jimmy Butler trade along with Dario Saric as the Sixers tried to turn two good players into one great player back in 2018.

The thing with RoCo is that he was simultaneously overvalued by younger Sixers fans who got into the Sam Hinkie/Process stuff, and undervalued by older Sixers fans who didn’t truly appreciate or understand the things he did defensively. Oftentimes his critics point to the 2018 Eastern Conference semifinal series, which featured 1-7 and 0-6 shooting nights plus a game four benching. That’s their justification for trading him and never bringing him back. Cov supporters point to the fact that no Sixer really truly looked good against Boston back then.

More than anything, Covington doesn’t necessarily address the issue hurting the Sixers most right now, which is half court shot creation. He’s a really good catch and shoot guy, but this team needs somebody who can put the ball on the floor, take a defender off the dribble, and/or attack close outs the way Tobias Harris does. There’s a lack of dynamism in that one particular area, which is why you’ve been seeing a lot of Trey Burke recently.

Malik Beasley would make more sense in that regard. He’s smaller at 6’4″ and more mobile as a prototypical two-guard with a quick release who can also get to the rim. E’Twaun Moore plays a similar type of game. The Sixers have had good off-ball movers in the past, guys like JJ Redick, Marco Belinelli, and Landry Shamet, but they really wanted Markelle Fultz to be the missing piece as a Ben Simmons complement who can score and defend at the same time.

We’ll see what happens. I don’t think a Covington return would be the best fit, nor would it look that great from an optics standpoint, the idea of bringing back a guy you just traded away. Philly does have first round picks to move even though their starting player contracts are going to be harder to shuffle in 2020. Elton Brand might have something up his sleeve to help kickstart a team that could use piece offensively.