3 Former Raptors players having excellent starts to the season

No. 2: Norman Powell

The LA Clippers are out to a surprisingly strong start to the season. They took the Phoenix Suns to overtime in their home opener before a narrow loss, and then went on the road and beat the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors, winners of two of the last three championships. They have done all of that without Kawhi Leonard playing a single minute.

James Harden has been excellent as an offensive engine, including leading the league in assists; Ivica Zubac has been a monster defensively, including leading the league in rebounding; but the Clippers needed a scorer to step up in the absence of Leonard and the departed Paul George. The player who has answered that call? Old Toronto friend Norman Powell.

Powell is averaging a whopping 24.7 points per game, which will blow his previous career-best of 19 points per game out of the water if it continues. He is getting up 8.3 attempts from 3-point range and hitting 40 percent of them, and he is also shooting 63 percent from 2-point range, often on difficult pull-up shots or contested finishes.

Playing on a team with two superstar wings and a couple of defense-first options that needed to start, Powell has been relegated to a bench role the past few seasons. He has already matched his number of starts from last year at three. Now there is a need for Powell to step up, and he certainly has answered the call.