Toronto Raptors: It’s time for Nick Nurse to tinker with the rotation

Norman Powell / Terence Davis

To say that Norm Powell has had a tough start to the season would be an understatement. Despite being one of the first players off of the bench in each game, Powell has had very little impact on the court, and when his presence has been felt, it has been negative. Norm is a great player to have off of your bench when he is shooting well and providing spacing on offense, but Powell’s shot has not been falling, and it may be time to give some of his minutes to other players such as Terence Davis until he can regain his form.

The Toronto Raptors have assembled a roster in which there are over 10 players who could plug in and play a role, and through the first three games of the season, Nurse has elected to give minutes to his usual suspects regardless of their performance. Powell is still a very important piece of the team and should be guaranteed minutes every night, but coming off of 2/11 and 0/5 shooting performances in the previous two games.

Powell was given another 18 minutes in Philadelphia where he shot an unflattering 2/7. If Norm isn’t finding his shot, some of his minutes should be distributed to Terence Davis (assuming he isn’t being benched for off the court reasons). Davis was effective last season, and yet has not been featured meaningfully in any of the first three games. This is something that should be changed moving forward until Norm can regain his confidence.