Norman Powell taking shots at 2019 Raptors depth is strange

Toronto Raptors fans and Norman Powell have a very special relationship. While Powell is forever indebted to the Raptors for taking a chance on him in the second round and getting him a championship ring, fans loved Powell’s tireless motor and shooting prowess from deep.

While he has since made his way to the Los Angeles Clippers by way of a trade to and from Portland, the San Diego native and UCLA alum has since found himself a long-term home in California while the Raptors move forward with Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes. Why on earth would the two ever have fraught exchanges?

Powell appears to be very excited about his new Clippers team, so much so that he’s taking shots at the rest of his former teammates. Powell claimed that the current Clippers team he is a part of is a deeper team than the Raptors team he won a championship with.

Powell doubled down on his comments, saying that LA exceeds Toronto in terms of “talent and vet experience” before mocking those on social media who claim to know better. Trying to support your guys is one thing, but this just feels oddly aggressive for no reason.

Norman Powell took shots at the 2019 Toronto Raptors.

Powell is the fourth-best player on the Clippers right now, but it could be reasonably argued that he was the eighth or ninth-best player on that Raptors team. Players like OG Anunoby and Fred VanVleet were coming off the bench, while Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka supplemented stars like Leonard and Kyle Lowry expertly.

The Clippers are certainly deep, as they’ve stayed in the playoff hunt despite Leonard and Paul George very rarely being in the lineup together. However, Powell trying to tear down his old friends to pump his new ones up is wrong on basically every level one could analyze.

Raptors assistant Jamaal Magloire, a member of the team’s championship and current iterations, was not thrilled with Powell’s comments. Magloire aired his grievances, saying, “FYI Toronto Raptors 2019 can’t be (replicated) not even by the Clippers” in the comments.

Powell will always have a special place in the hearts of this fanbase, which makes it even more strange as to why Powell is so dead set on going after them in such a direct fashion. You already got the win against them this year. What more could you want?