The Miami Heat trading for Norman Powell this summer was immediately seen as a solid move, especially considering they didn’t have to give up much to get him on board. But now, as the season has gone on, the deal has looked more and more like an absolute win for the Heat and a pretty bad loss for the LA Clippers.
Powell has helped the Heat exceed the expectations set for them heading into the year, especially considering they have been without Tyler Herro for most of it. Meanwhile, John Collins hasn’t been great in LA, and they’ve been one of the worst teams in the West. (The Utah Jazz have been tanking, for the most part.)
At this point, it’s painfully obvious that the Heat won the trade. Being willing to take him on board in the final year of his contract was genius.
The Heat were genius for the Norman Powell trade
Powell has been awesome for the Heat this season. For a team that needed an infusion of offense after the way last season ended, he’s been that and then some, leading the team in scoring (outside of Herro, who has only been back for two games).
Not only that, but Powell is also taking more shots than anyone else on Miami’s roster this year, and they managed to snag him in a trade without giving up any first-round picks or core assets.
They shipped out Kevin Love, Kyle Anderson, and a second-round pick and got back a guy who is leading their offense and helping them to a top-three seed in the Eastern Conference (for the time being). That’s a steal.
Powell has appeared in 15 of the Heat’s 19 games for Miami this season, starting all of them and playing 30.4 minutes per contest (second on the team behind Andrew Wiggins).
He is averaging 24.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.3 steals while shooting 49.4% from the floor and 44.1% from deep range on 6.8 three-point attempts per contest.
Meanwhile, Collins hasn’t been as amazing a fit in LA as the Clippers might have hoped when they traded for him.
Powell was a huge part of the Clippers’ offense last season, but clearly, they didn't want to be the team to pay him. (He is in the final year of his contract and will need a new one this summer.)
As the Heat are sitting at 13-6 on the season—the third seed in the East—the Clippers are 5-13, which puts them 1.5 games out of the Play-In Tournament, sitting at 12th in the West.
Miami has to feel genius right about now.