The Miami Heat clearly hit the jackpot when they plucked Norman Powell away from the Los Angeles Clippers in a three-team trade that inexplicably only cost them Kyle Anderson and Kevin Love. It was, perhaps objectively, the single biggest steal of the 2025 NBA offseason.
The deal has already increased in value, too, since Powell, who had a near-All-Star breakout last season, just so happens to be the perfect injury replacement for Tyler Herro, who authored a full-fledged All-Star emergence in 2024-25. Powell, who turned 32 in May, isn't even convinced he has shown his best form yet.
All of this circles back to the obvious conclusion that Miami's acquisition was an act of legalized larceny. And yet, it could add some unexpected value still. Because if Herro's absence winds up sinking the Heat's season, the Heat could always return to the trade market and flip Powell for long-term assets to a win-now shopper on the hunt for scoring support, championship experience, and reliability.
The same qualities that have endeared Powell to the Heat would attract trade suitors if Miami ever needs to go that route.
In a perfect world, the Heat wouldn't even consider the possibility of a Powell trade. Of course, in a perfect world, Herro never gets hurt, so that's kind of a moot point.
If Miami is as punchless as pundits think it will be, the front office will have to think long and hard about selling off established players who aren't obvious building blocks for draft picks and prospects. Powell probably falls into that box, since he's a 32-year-old playing on an expiring contract. And if the Heat wind up extending Herro, there probably isn't enough room to play both—unless the organization is OK with punting all of the long-term financial flexibility it had so carefully protected to this point.
Powell should generate plenty of interest. Last season was a bit of a statistical outlier for him—his 21.8 points and 3.0 three-pointers were both career-highs—but it wasn't to some wild extent. He had twice averaged at least 18 points before, and he'd been good for 2.2 triples per night over the previous five seasons.
He is a reliable play-finisher, an accurate shooter from distance, a willing defender, and someone who just understands how to play. His regular-season odometer shows more than 600 appearances, and he has played in another 91 games in the postseason (including as a rotation player for the Toronto Raptors' 2018-19 title team).
His future uncertainty might hurt his market a bit—hence why the Heat were able to get him so cheap—but contenders who feel like they might be one player away from a championship push shouldn't worry about that too much. If he's as good this season as he was during the last one, they may not bat an eye at covering the cost of his upcoming free agency.
Hopefully, none of this matters. Maybe the Heat handle Herro's absence better than expected, and perhaps his return pushes them further up the ladder in the wide-open Eastern Conference. There is absolutely a scenario in which Powell contributes to a playoff run with Miami.
If that doesn't happen, though, the franchise can still get some unexpected value from someone who's already seen as an objective steal.