After points were hard to come by for the Miami Heat in their first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2025 NBA Playoffs (the Heat averaged just 95.5 points per game as they were swept), they recently traded for someone who was one of the more productive scorers in the league last season and didn’t exactly have to break the bank to acquire him.
Miami acquired guard Norman Powell from the Los Angeles Clippers after he served as a key scoring option for Los Angeles last season and averaged a career-high 21.8 points per game. The Heat parted with veterans Kevin Love and Kyle Anderson in exchange for the 32-year-old gifted scorer as part of a three-team trade.
However, former NBA star Gilbert Arenas hinted that Powell will now be competing for touches with his new team since the Heat have multiple players who are “trying to be the star.”
“See, what y’all forgetting is the reason he was averaging that much is ’cause one whole star was gone, so he was the go-to guy by himself,” Arenas said of Powell’s time with the Clippers. “No, James Harden was the assist guy. He was second in scoring. He’s out there, but I’m giving you the ball.
“You’re going to Miami where there’s already guys who wants to shoot the ball. So, now it’s fight for the ball. … He was averaging 24 because no one else was there, so I’m giving you the ball to have fun. When one person came back, it was like, alright, move around, sit in the corner.
“You’re going to a team where they all are trying to be the star, so it’s gonna be more of a fight over there because they all gonna be playing. Here, in Clippers, you can bank on Kawhi [Leonard] not playing a lot.”
It’s worth noting that Harden was actually L.A.’s leading scorer.
Miami’s de facto scoring option for much of last season was guard Tyler Herro, who has spent the entirety of his pro career with the Heat up to this point. He averaged the most points of any player on Miami by a wide margin a season ago with 23.9 per contest and shot 37.5 percent from deep.
To add to Arenas’ thoughts, forward Andrew Wiggins and center Bam Adebayo scored the ball at a high level for the Heat in the 2024-25 campaign as well. Wiggins scored 19.0 per game across 17 games played after he was dealt to the Heat during the season, while Adebayo scored 18.1 on a game-to-game basis and showcased an improved 3-point shot.
Adebayo could also look to be more aggressive this coming season as some feel like he still needs to improve in that department.
If Powell’s scoring average in his maiden season with the Heat takes a dip compared to that of his final season with L.A., folks shouldn’t be all that worried because of all the mouths there are to feed on offense compared to his situation with Los Angeles. Last season on the Clippers, Leonard was limited to just 37 appearances, and fellow star Paul George was no longer in the mix.