With the regular season on the horizon, it's become abundantly clear that the Miami Heat made one of the biggest steals of the offseason by acquiring Norman Powell for basically nothing. Powell emerged as one of the most consistent players for the Heat this season and is primed for a huge year in Miami.
That much was evident during his preseason stretch with the Heat. Averaging 16 points on 45 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent shooting from 3-point range during the preseason, it's pretty clear that the Heat are going to lean heavily on Powell without Tyler Herro to begin the season.
It only makes their bold move to target Powell during the offseason look that much better.
The Heat stole Norman Powell from the Clippers
Back in July, the Heat surprisingly acquired Powell from the LA Clippers in exchange for Kevin Love in a three-team trade. Essentially, Miami only had to part ways with Kevin Love and Kyle Anderson to get the deal done.
At the time, it looked like a great deal for the Heat; it looks even better now.
Of course, the big question for the Heat and Powell revolves around whether their futures will intersect with each other. In the final year of his contract, the Heat has to make a big decision on Powell's future relatively soon.
How will the Heat handle Norman Powell's future?
If Miami wanted to sign Powell to a contract extension, they could. Especially if he gets off to a hot start to the regular season, that possibility is not completely off the table just yet.
However, they'll have to balance that out with Herro's future. Herro is also essentially in the final year of his contract and is eligible for a contract extension for another couple of days. If the Heat and Herro don't agree to an extension now, they'll have to wait to do so next summer.
If that's the path the Heat goes down, you can't help but wonder what that could mean for Powell's future with the team.
At this point, if the Heat does wait on an extension for Herro, it would be surprising if they didn't do the same with Powell.
But no matter what the Heat ends up deciding on the Powell front, it's not going to take away from the fact that he will play a huge role for Miami this season and the fact that he was one of the biggest steals of the summer.