Last week in an article about Lucas Nogueira, I mentioned that Masai Ujiri is the master in the art of trade making. One of Master Ujiri’s best trades in his tenure with the Raptors came on draft night two years ago, when the Raptors traded backup point guard Greivis Vasquez, for Norman Powell who was selected 46th overall in that years draft, also the Clippers first round draft pick in the 2017 draft.
Powell a four year player out of UCLA, was known for his hard nosed defense, and athletic offensive abilities, but his inconsistent shooting form, and raw offensive game held him back from being selected higher in the draft. For a good part of last year, Powell spent time with the 905, working on his shooting form, trying to become a more consistent shooter from beyond the three point line and making his offensive game not as one dimensional.
When Powell saw court time on the NBA stage, he impressed everyone quickly. He showed poise offensively, a much improved shooting form, and the aggressive defense he was known for was good enough to guard some of the NBA’s best players. That aggressive smart defense, was good enough to even guard some players much bigger than Powell’s 6”4 215lb frame. In the playoffs, Powell showed he could guard high caliber players like Paul George. While George got the best of most Raptors sent his way in that first round series, and even though George is much bigger than Powell, he was the man on the roster who stepped up to the challenge and was most successful.
Entering this season, some were excited to see what Powell’s game could look like full time in the rotation, but there was a small group who were unsure if they hadn’t seen enough of Powell to make a decision. In these past few weeks, the latter group has officially been quieted. At this point of the season, Powell has played in as many games as he did last year. He has taken leaps forward in his game and now the narrative has become, “how do we find him more minutes?”.
Right now Powell is log jammed behind starting small forward DeMarre Carroll, Terrence Ross, DeMar DeRozan, and Cory Joseph. The Raptors have a lot of talent in their backcourt, and not having enough minutes for an up and coming talent is a weird problem to have. Looking at it from the team’s perspective, it speaks to the great depth the Raptors front office has constructed.
Off the bench this season, Powell’s place in the rotation is only finding him 11.8 minutes per game but he has stayed a constant professional, never complaining about his role, and is always ready to step up when he is needed to. When DeRozan went down with ankle an injury, or even earlier on in the year when Carroll wasn’t playing the second night of a back to backs, it was Powell who got the starting spot. In his 14 starts, he’s averaging 31.9 minutes, scoring 14.7 points per game, which has to be put into some context because some of these starts are without DeRozan, so there are a lot more of available shots on the floor.
When Powell does have full reigns to score within the offense, he’s taken a lot of strides forward this season. He is still his most effective when running downhill to the basket (mostly in transition), but in the half court Powell’s ball handing has improved to where he is very effective coming off screens and using his quick first step to shake his defender off just enough for a path to the basket. In the play below, Jonas Valanciunas sets a high screen for Powell, who automatically recognizes the speed advantages he has over Greg Monroe who is going to have to back pedal an awful lot to keep up with the quick Powell. Using extremely crafty footwork, Powell is able to get to the basket with ease and finish.
While using his amazing athleticism to get to the basket is one of his greatest skills, scoring at the rim is something he could improve on. Since 43% of Powell shot’s are coming at the rim, he’s finishing those shots at 57%, which is a hair under league average. The area that could improve is his free throw rate, which sits at is 25%. With the amount of shots he’s taking at the rim, you would hope to see Powell get to the line a bit more. Once those calls start coming, and he finishes a little more efficiently at the rim, Powell driving to the basket will be a massive headache for defenses.
The Raptors don’t rely heavily on three point shooting, but Powell has improved on his shot enough that a lineup where he shares the floor with players like DeRozan who work mostly inside the three point line, Powell can space out to the three point line and effectively hit open jumpers. On catch and shoot threes, he’s shooting 36.3%, his most effective area being in the left corner, where 30% of all his three point attempts are coming from, shooting a blistering 45% from that area. Corner snipers are vital in an offense, they space out the floor from the middle pick and roll action. Their defenders are usually the first help when someone penetrates through the middle to the basket. They are usually the player who gets the most kick outs, and when a kick out to a corner happens and the defense does rotates they initiate the perimeter ball movement.
While having Powell in corners is important to the offense, the fact that his three point shooting continues to improve adds just another offensive weapon to his game. Other than Lowry, Powell is probably the second best player on the Raptors at being to work his game from three, but also have the ability to get to the basket with ease. The encouraging part to Powell’s game is the fact that you can see there is room to grow, and the development he’s already shown in his short time in the league makes you think that the raw talents he’s showing now have the potential to blow away what people’s expectations of Powell were before he entered the league.
With an offensive game that’s blossoming, it’s Powell’s defense that continues to be one of his greatest strength. His defensive IQ for his age is off the charts. He applies pressure on ball handlers without committing fouls, his lateral quickness inhibits ball handlers driving to the basket, his freakish 6”11 wingspan, mixed with his speed always seems to find it’s way into passing lanes. All these skills make up a defender who’s willing and capable of guarding multiple positions, from quick point guards, to much larger players like LeBron James.
Powell is one of the Raptors most exciting players on the roster right now. He’s still developing his game, yet he is making an impact on a regular basis right now. Like a majority of young players in their early 20’s late teens, Powell is prone to making mistakes that young players make. He can also disappear into the background at times, where open layups at the rim don’t fall and nights when his defense just isn’t quite there. Looking at games where his game is on full display, you can see that many of the right tools are there to make a future productive player.
The main setback with Powell continues to be the Raptors minutes conundrum. Both Carroll and Ross hold positions over Powell in the depth chart right now, while moving him into the starting small forward spot seems logical, the Raptors don’t seem ready to give up on their investment in Carroll just yet. The Raptors will hopefully figure out what they have in Powell before he hits restricted free agency by 2018. With Carroll and Ross also locked up long term, Powell’s minutes in the future will remain up in the air unless a move is made. With the raw skills he has now, there’s no doubt that teams will be willing to throw large offer sheets at Powell, sending the Raptors very deep into the tax if they chose to match. For now, Powell will most likely have to fight for some of his minutes, continue consistent play, and hopefully steal some minutes once the playoffs role around. For now, lets just continue to enjoy this video..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv9yiPtUs8A
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