Veteran guard Norman Powell is a new member of the Miami Heat, and fans seem to be rightfully excited first and foremost about what he brings to the table as an offensive player.
In recent years, Powell has had a penchant for putting the ball through the net and took advantage of his additional scoring opportunities with the Los Angeles Clippers last season, as he averaged a career-high 15.8 shots from the field and scored 21.8 points per contest.
However, one NBA scout noted that he was a more effective player on the less glamorous end of the floor earlier on in his pro career.
“The arrow usually is pointing downward when you get to his age, but it pointed upward,” the scout said of Powell’s trajectory as a player. “He had a fantastic year. He’s got tunnel vision. He is a scorer, and a shooter. Early in his career, he was a defensive guy and the offense was icing. Now, it’s the other way around.”
The scout noted that Powell’s defense became a source of worry for the Clippers, but that his offensive production helped to offset his limitations on the other end.
Not only did Powell average more than 20 points per game last season, but he did so with fantastic efficiency. A whopping 41.8 percent of his 3-pointers along with 48.4 percent of his shots from the field found nylon.
“The scout said Powell’s defense had become a concern for the Clippers, ‘but he outscored his opponent,'” Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel wrote.
Despite Powell’s defensive question marks, the scout praised Miami’s acquisition of him. The Heat dealt forwards Kevin Love and Kyle Anderson in a three-team trade in order to land Powell.
“For the Heat, it was a good move because he can score and he does what he does,” the scout said.
The scout made it clear that at this juncture, Powell is not a two-way player, but said he could get back to being impactful on both sides of the ball.
“He’s not a two-way player,” the scout said of Powell. “He’s got the potential to be. Because he did have that persona earlier in his career. But he’s gotten away from that.”
Perhaps if there’s any franchise that can get Powell back to being more disruptive on the defensive end of the floor, it’s the Heat, a team that has long prided itself on its grit and intensity.
Maybe a smaller role on the offensive end with the Heat in the 2025-26 season would help Powell revert to his better days on defense, as it’s possible that all the energy he had to exert on offense last season negatively impacted his play on the other end.
Overall, Heat fans should be eagerly anticipating the opportunity to see Powell take the court in a Heat uniform for the first time, and he projects to be a very important piece for the team this coming season.