(Photo via Getty Images)
When the Miami Heat acquired Norman Powell in a three-team trade this past summer, it was pretty clear instantly that Pat Riley pulled off another fleece acquisition.
And that notion has only intensified as Powell is in the midst of another career year in South Beach. He is the Heat’s leading scorer, and has provided an efficient boost offensively that this team has been lacking for a long time. Powell’s leadership both on and off the court has posed as a perfect fit to supplement a Bam Adebayo-Tyler Herro led group.
Not only has Miami’s Powell addition looked brilliant from their end, but it has magnified a clear front office blunder by his former team in the LA Clippers.
The Clippers moved on from the 32-year-old guard before he was due for a new contract extension. Instead, they went in the direction of cheaper roster changes in minimum deals to bring in Bradley Beal and Chris Paul for LA’s backcourt. Beal is already ruled out with a season-ending injury, and averaged a career-worst 8.2 points on just 37% shooting beforehand. Additionally, Paul has received inconsistent bench minutes and is in the midst of a retirement tour.
The Powell trade was a three-team deal involving the Heat, Clippers and Utah Jazz. Miami got their hands on Powell for the price of just Kevin Love and Kyle Anderson— two aging vets who wouldn’t have had clear roles for the Heat heading into this season. The Clippers received John Collins from Utah as part of the deal.
Collins has had struggles of his own for LA, too. The veteran power forward is averaging 11.9 points, his lowest since his rookie year, to go along with a career-low 4.9 rebounds per game. Los Angeles essentially shipped out Powell for a trio of disappointing additions in Collins, Beal and Paul on route to an abysmal 5-16 start this season (13th seed in the Western Conference).
As for Powell? He is thriving with Heat Culture.
Norman Powell is averaging a career-high 25 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists on elite 51/46/88 shooting splits.
He has been a game changing presence for this Heat team. The veteran scorer has an opportunity to become the first 50/40/90 player in franchise history, along with becoming the first 25+ points per game scorer since LeBron James in 2014.
The fit next to Tyler Herro in the backcourt has also looked good so far, although it is still a small sample size.
Miami has the privilege of having two ignitable scorers to get the ball to at any given moment now in Herro and Powell. Opposing teams defense’s used to zero-in on Herro’s scoring ability last year. Now, the Heat have another three-level threat waiting on the other top side of the key. Each of them have that run-and-gun game made to fit seamlessly with coach Erik Spoelstra’s new fast paced offense.
Powell scorched his former Clippers squad with a 30-point performance on 12 of 18 shooting and 60% from 3-point range in the Heat’s previous win. He shared his thoughts on LA’s struggles in the postgame presser:
“I would have never guessed they were gonna be 5-16 and where they’re at right now. That’s something for them to have to deal with and handle. I’m not worried about them anymore.”
— Norman Powell
Powell has found a home in Miami. And he is making a legitimate case for the Heat to give him a longer term commitment for the contract extension that the Clippers’ refused to do.
He is currently on a bargain $20 million deal and set to become an unrestricted free agent after this season.
Powell has put together an All-Star caliber campaign; leading Miami to a dominant 14-7 start in a wide open Eastern Conference.
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where is ware lately.looking like wenby jr for a while now he cant be found .wonder why sposcratcher.looking like our 2nd best player for weeks now looking like a dnp
It’s gonna be interesting against Dallas. AD is back, Flagg playing well. If PJ Washington suits up, it will be tough matchup against their frontcourt.
gafford lively kyrie playing with said team might be #1 seed in east thats alot of big boys to contend with on mavs
It’s pretty amazing how one team can decline so rapidly. It’s as if the Clippers aged like 10 years during one offseason.
The Clippers front office probably thought how clever they were, by not extending Powell and trading him for Collins and signing Beal and Paul and Lopez. Now Beal is OFS and Paul and Lopez basically unplayable while Powell is playing at an allstar level. Crazy.
Interesting video on the Heat. This is becoming a very special year for the players and the fans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qyZPPfDppA
stop pls a special year theyve played 1/4 of the season.looks pretty good for now.lets wait til game 82 and thereafter.and will see how special it is
Special as in exciting to watch and much more positive vibes than ever existed than when the quitter was around. It is now very clear he was the one holding the team back. Sometimes you need to stop and smell the roses heat. All things considered, for most of us, there are many more reasons to be positive about this team than negative.
From a guy who draws a negative conclusion about a player, coach or season after 1, 5, 10, or 20 games every year. And now can’t take time to enjoy one of the surprises of the season along with Raptors and Pistons. Most pundits are talking about the Heat and how much better they have looked this season, but we, the ‘fans’, shouldn’t be enjoying the ride? A very sad mindset.
im happy theyre exceeding expectations yes rc im a happy guy in life got everything a man could want btw as sm referenced becoming a special year is jewelry fittings parade meetings,maybe becoming a pleasant surprise after cavs playoff disaster better wording.sorry to hurt your heat feelings ill send u some heat crying towels to u in the mail
You’re the big crybaby here. Thanks for the offer, but you clearly need the towels more than I do.
Powell is going to be very rich soon. He has made the best of his opportunity.
I still cannot fathom why the Clippers made that trade. And Utah’s move may be even more perplexing. When the value of a contract, or getting rid of one, is sometimes emphasized in deals over the talent of the players involved, bizarre trades can occur. Still, this one is a doozy and there may be something else that hasn’t come to light that went on there. The Rozier trade, which was only half as lopsided and stunning, we now know had a hidden factor that explains why Charlotte gave so much.
can somebody please explain what happened to keshots pt was he impressive to u guys as he was to me.sposcratcher.id play him before pelle or fonzi he has that perfect nba body and has skills to.jumps runs defends shoots dunks why spo why spo
Our team remains perplexing at times. It seems like Keshad went into the doghouse for no apparent reason. But, perhaps it was only the matchups that dictated his pine time. If so, we will see him again soon. I do disagree about Pelle. He is the better player than Keshad, does so many little things right, and really plays a different position so they aren’t interchangeable. .But, Simone and Keshad, although they are very different players, are somewhat aligned in where they slot in and there are times when Keshad skillsets are more useful than Simone’s. Overall, they are probably somewhat equivalent in effectiveness.
30 in the little i do mean little minutes spo has givem this year he has looked really good.based on the massive mins given to pelle and fonzi i have an idea of their level.im not quite sure where keshads level is but based on his limited perf i think its higher than pelle.hes way more athletic stronger than pelle.we need more keshad types on a somewhat older not as athletic team as the real good teams in nba.versus detroit his ars should have been on cc when he was killing us.dav too small keshads built perfectly to handle cc.sposcratcher
somewhat older not as athletic team…
Somewhat older? This is one of the youngest teams the Heat has ever had. Not counting Rozier, there are only 2 players 30 or older. 7 are 25 or under. 4 are in their late 20s. And they have some athletes. Bam, Ware, Davion, Keshad, Pelle, Wiggins, and Jaquez. Keshad will have his chances. He was recently ill. You wanted him cut in favor of Bryant. He just needs to stay ready.
powell wiggy 30 or over bams up.there maybe 3 more good norm wiggy years bam few more wheres the next wave ware and what else.im saying get a ss for norm and company .current team a playoff team not champ caliber
So, yeah, you pick out the 2 30 year olds I referenced. As mentioned, it is one of the youngest teams we’ve had, averaging 25.8 years old. They’ve developed players who could improve more or be assets in a trade. They have more of their first round picks than in previous years. And as I’ve pointed out many times, 29 of 30 teams lose every season. If it’s championship or misery for you, you will be miserable most of the time. Some of us choose to see the positives and enjoy the ride. It’s a choice and I do choose that path.
Illness
athleticitis?
Forget keshad minutes wth happened to ware’s
great point spobots punishing him for being to tall.spobot likes midget lineups.wares playing lately like fu spo for giving bams rest minutes.
spos scared of heights
He should never play less than 25-30 minutes a game.
Bam Adebayo on whether he expected the Heat to lead the NBA in scoring this season:
“Uhh, no… You look at the past two years and [Erik Spoelstra] just scrapped the book and was like, ‘This is how we’re gonna play, we’re gonna play totally different. We want to play fast, we want to play with pace.’ We built a team that can sustain that… almost our whole starting 5 almost got 20 points, that’s really sharing the game.”
NOT EVERYTHING FROM FANSIDED/ALLUCANHEAT IS NEGATIVE (SEE EXCERPTS BELOW)
Draft guru shares stunning truth only Heat fans know right nowThe Heat are must-watch TV. By Michael Saenz
It is true that these outlets have both positive and negative articles. Saenz, to me, is not what I would call a journalist, or at least he is comparable to those who historically wrote for The National Enquirer. And the headlines he writes, or are written for him, are often comically bad. ‘Stunning truth’? A stunning truth would be if I learned I was left on the doorstep when I was an infant and I am actually a wizard..
I agree about much of his “journalism.” However, even a broken clock is right twice a day. This time, he was right.
I meant to say I disagree with much of his journalism.
I agree with your position on agreeing about disagreeing with this journalism. At the same time I am positive we will definitely agree on disagreeing with this kind of journalism.
To clarify my position, I agree with RC that much of his journalism is off base but once I do think that once in a while he gets his facts right. Thank you for agreeing to disagree with our agreement.