Everyone wanted the Miami Heat to significantly boost their offense over the offseason. Well, they have done just that. And yet, almost no one is talking about it, largely because superstar acquisitions make the NBA go ‘round, but also because it’s pretty clear that Norman Powell remains wildly underrated.
Conventional offseason critiques gravitate toward the biggest names. Understandably so. The Heat, in particular, are among the Association’s foremost star-chasers. Their success or failure is so often boiled down to whether they land the next big fish.
But Miami’s summer is concrete proof that it doesn’t need another star to win the offseason—even if landing that star is the ultimate goal.
Norman Powell is going to noticeably boost the Heat’s offense
The Heat finished last season inside the bottom 10 of points scored per possession, and were No. 18 in overall effective field-goal percentage, which is a combined measure of two-point and three-point efficiency. Believe it or not, though, this actually understates the degree to which they struggled.
Many of their offensive vitals were much worse with Jimmy Butler off the floor. Moving him provided needed clarity on their future, but it also leaned into a depth chart that couldn’t consistently generate rim pressure or trips to the foul line without him.
Powell is going to help fill those gaps. He averaged just over six shot attempts at the rim per 100 possessions last season, according to PBP Stats. Kel’el Ware and Jaime Jaquez Jr. are the only players from the Heat’s regular rotation who averaged more.
Throughout his career, Powell has also demonstrated an underappreciated ability to draw fouls. Just last year, he generated free-throws on around 16 percent of his two-point attempts. Andrew Wiggins was the only Miami player to match that mark while logging at least 1,200 minutes.
Miami’s other issues will be helped by Norman Powell, too
Skeptics will point out that the Heat have done little to fix the point guard position with established upgrades. Powell is not going to make plays for others the way that adding another version of Tyler Herro or an actual floor general would.
Still, the off-ball shooting and movement he delivers will help paper over that void.
Both he and Herro allow Miami to experiment heavily with Pelle Larsson and Kasparas Jakucionis on the ball. And while he isn’t much of a table-setter for others, Powell noticeably juices up the Heat’s self-creation. He just averaged 8.31 unassisted points per 100 possessions. That is more than everyone else on the Heat except for—you guessed it–Mr. Tyler Herro.
Perhaps most critically, Powell’s effectiveness isn’t predicated on playing alongside high-profile names 100 percent of the time. He shot 50 percent on twos, and 43.5 percent on threes in the minutes he played without both James Harden and Kawhi Leonard.
Granted, Powell did see his efficiency at the rim drop, from 75-plus percent with both to 60ish percent with neither. But he offset that with his three-point volume, and by upping his foul rate even further.
Yes, offseason moves from other teams grab more headlines. But Powell’s arrival in Miami will end up being one of the most impactful additions of the entire summer. And it’s one the Heat pulled off without giving up anyone who factored into their immediate or long-term plans.