Norman Powell – Raptors rookie proving a gem
By Brian Boake
The Raptors have pushed a lot of responsibility onto a rookie’s shoulders, but Norman Powell has proven worthy. Who is he, and can he maintain his excellent play?
One of the issues which I’ve griped about over the years concerns the Toronto Raptors’ inability to find and deploy an impact rookie. In their 21 seasons of existence, the team has produced exactly two NBA Rookies of the Year, Damon Stoudamire in 1996 and (surprise, surprise) Vince Carter in 1999. In this century, our team hasn’t even produced a contender for the award despite repeated trips to the draft lottery which produced multiple single-digit selections. [20-second timeout: Please don’t send any “You’re wrong – Andrea Bargnani finished second in 2006-07” comments. As you can see, I’m aware. But he received one first-place ballot while Brandon Roy got the other 127. Bargs wasn’t a contender – he was an also-ran.]
Enter Norman Powell, as much a pleasant surprise as Jamario Moon was some years ago. Here’s a second-round draft pick (#46 overall), who’s spent much of his rookie season in the D-League, having an impact with the big team. He’s scored in double digits in his last six games and shows no signs of giving up the job of starting shooting guard. This fellow warrants close study.
Norman was overlooked in the draft. He came to the Raptors as the result of a directed trade. Greivis Vasquez was moved to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for their 2017 first-rounder along with Powell’s draft rights. Masai Ujiri’s trusted lieutenant, Jeff Weltman, gets much of the credit for insisting that Norman was a diamond in the rough and worthy of acquisition. Right you are, Jeff.
Powell is undersized at barely 6’4″ tall, although at UCLA he often drew the assignment of covering the opponent’s highest scorer. In other words, his defensive capabilities were not a secret at the collegiate level, and he displays them effectively in the NBA. With Dwane Casey as his coach, he’d better. Norman didn’t get a lot of spotlight in his final university year; freshman Kevon Looney was the big story on the Bruins.
NBA teams consider drafting collegiate seniors out of fashion these days. Yet the Raptors ended up with two of them (Delon Wright being the other) and their mature play is proving why staying in school can be a wise decision.
Presumably, pro scouts thought Norman would be overwhelmed by bigger shooting guards at both ends of the floor. That hasn’t proven true at all. Norman has grabbed several defensive rebounds and converted them into coast-to-coast dunks using his excellent speed and remarkable leaping ability. He takes quality mid-range jumpers, and has shown the ability to get open for corner 3-balls.
Norman has pronounced bow legs, which perhaps deterred scouts. In my admittedly brief research on the topic, there is conflicting evidence as to whether bow-leggedness is a long term problem for athletes. Here are three noteworthy athletes with this characteristic: LeBron James, Bobby Orr and Honus Wagner. That’s elite company and provides some comfort.
Our man Norman has no chance at this year’s RoY award. Karl-Anthony Towns’s name is already etched on the plaque, and it should be. However, if Norman continues his eye-opening play, he’ll surely garner some consideration at the bottom of the ballot.
More importantly for Raptors fans, he may plug a hole in our roster just in time for the playoffs. We’ll consider the impact of Norman (and Delon, to a lesser extent) and how they are affecting the minutes of other Raptors, in a future post.