Last night’s loss to the Houston Rockets proved that is time for the Toronto Raptors to reboot, with a Kyle Lowry and Norman Powell trade potentially on the table. Plenty of prospective buyers, like the Brooklyn Nets, are interested in getting a deal done.
Powell is averaging 19.5 points per game this season while shooting 43% from 3-point range, but those numbers are actually a tad deceiving, as Powell is averaged well over 23 points per game since Jan 21. Powell is one of the best perimeter shooters in the game, and the impending free agent could get several contenders interested in his services at the deadline.
The Nets might have Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden on the roster, but the signing of Blake Griffin proves that Brooklyn is still looking to add talent. If Sean Marks is feeling dangerous enough, he could look to a division rival in Masai Ujiri for a player like Powell that could reinforce Brooklyn’s bench.
As Brian Windhorst claimed on “The Hoop Collective” podcast, Brooklyn is interested in adding Powell, who could be a free agent at the end of this season. Toronto might be able to get Spencer Dinwiddie in return.
Will the Toronto Raptors trade Norman Powell to Brooklyn?
Dinwiddie has averaged just 6.7 points per game in three contests this season, as his ACL injury has kept him out for almost all of 2020-21, but he averaged over 20 points per game last season. If Toronto is able to hold his Bird rights, he could receive a five-year contract in free agency from the Raptors.
The Nets clearly have no qualms about adding Powell despite his contract situation, as they have Durant, Harden, Irving, and Joe Harris all locked up for the next few seasons. Powell might need to come off of the bench, which he struggled with this year, but he’d be a seamless fit on a Nets team hampered by injuries.
This trade might be difficult to get done without a third team involved, as trading for Harden robbed the Nets of the draft capital and young players that Toronto will likely insist on getting. Still, there is a path to a deal with enough creativity.
Seeing Powell, a former Raptors second-round pick who blossomed from bench player to star, in Brooklyn black and white might be difficult, but it could help the Raptors if they somehow manage to get some assets in return.