What’s not to love about an underdog story? Overcoming expectations, the challenges that must be faced, the trials that seem impossible, and the sheer lack of expectations in any sense of the word…it’s beautiful.
And what makes it even better is that nothing is lost if things go poorly. With a lack of expectations it’s almost impossible to be let down. You can invest as much hope as you’d like, but the reality is that it was never supposed to have worked out in the first place.
That’s how I usually feel about Norman Powell. He was the plucky second round pick with out of this world athleticism, and a sorely lacking jumpshot. It was a longshot in many ways that he would even make the opening day roster, and the odds were he would head overseas after appearing in summer league for Toronto.
And yet here he is…and my investment is getting to a dangerous level.
Having been named to the All-NBA Summer League last summer, Powell, is in the first year of a three year contract worth a total of slightly over $2.5 million. An absolute bargain of a contract even before considering that the third year is a team option.
What’s not to love?
Starting the season as a member of the bench youth (Delon Wright, Norman Powell, Bruno Caboclo, Anthony Bennett, and Lucas Nogueira), Powell was clearly situation as one of the bottom five players on the roster and seemed destined for extended run in the D-League. Powell responded by showing to be quite clearly at the upper echelon of D-League talent, with stats that jumped off the table:
Through 8 games and 39.6 minutes Powell averaged 24.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 2.1 steals, all while shooting 50 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three.
Powell was relentless while attacking the basket, and aggressive and regularly guarded three positions on the floor. Being given point guard responsibilities challenged Powell to facilitate the offense, to drive and dish, and to create offense off of his straight-line drives. And he excelled.
The question remained about his long distance shooting though. Shooting 33.3 percent on a mere 3 attempts per game is progress for the moment, but is not sufficient for his long term fit for the Raptors. With his length and motor, Powell has the potential to be an elite 3-and-D guard, with the potential of being Tony Allen with a jumpshot as Jesse Mermuys recently describe him.
That’s mighty high prize and would be a brilliant weapon at the Raptors disposal.
Which is what makes his recent streak of shooting so encouraging. Prior to last night’s game the month of March had seen Powell average 18.3 minutes in 9 games played, while starting 8 games at Small Forward for the injured DeMarre Carroll, all while shooting 39.1 percent from three on 2.6 attempts per game.
This stretch includes a 3-for-7 game against Milwaukee and 2-for-3 against Boston. He is surely doing enough to keep defenses honest, and with another summer of work with the Raptors coaching staff the hope is that these numbers could become a regular occurrence.
And his development could make things very interesting for the Raptors this offseason. With Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, DeMarre Carroll, Cory Joseph, TJ Ross, and Powell, the Raptors are deeper than they ever have been at guard and on the wing. This before we know exactly what we have in Delon Wright (although he looked pretty good last night against Boston while Lowry had the night off), and the possibility that one (or both?) of this summer’s first round pick could be a wing.
Simply put, there just isn’t enough time on the court for all of them. Norman Powell will need to fight for every minute of floor time he receives, and the exciting thing is that he appears up for the challenge.
What started as a mere hope in a second round pick, has grown for me into a dream of something more. I badly want Norman Powell to be a success, to be a second round pick that shatters expectations, and to make everyone who passed on him regret their decision…and I want him to do it in Toronto.
Time will tell, but I’m realizing I’m now potentially too emotionally invested in the success of a second round pick.
Please don’t let me down, Norm…
