When the Miami Heat acquired Norman Powell, they equipped head coach Erik Spoelstra with one of the most efficient scorers in the NBA. Powell turns touches into points at an unrivaled rate, and shoots the lights out in virtually every respect.
For a Heat team that lacks a superstar scorer until Bam Adebayo or Tyler Herro prove otherwise, Powell's league-leading touch-to-point ratio will be essential.
Powell finished the 2024-25 season ranked No. 1 in the NBA in points per touch—by a massive margin. Powell checked in at .509 points per touch, with Memphis Grizzlies star Jaren Jackson Jr. ranking second at a distant .460.
Considering Jackson is a 6'10" and 242-pound big and Powell is a 6'4" and 215-pound wing, the margin is even crazier to consider.
Powell's uncanny ability to turn offensive possessions into points is exactly what Miami needs. Adebayo and Herro are productive scorers with skill to be commended, but neither ranked in the top 15 in the NBA in points per game last season.
Powell may not change that fact, but his ability to generate offense at a league-leading clip on a per-touch basis could prove invaluable within Spoelstra's system.
Norman Powell led NBA in points per touch by a wide margin in 2024-25
Powell finished the 2024-25 season at 21.8 points per game on .484/.418/.804 shooting. He's averaged at least 17.0 points per game in four of the past five seasons, managing that steady line of production with three different franchises—a promising sign for how his game can translate to Miami.
One of the driving forces behind Powell's success was his elite ability to work without the ball and convert catch-and-shoot opportunities.
Powell buried 45.2 percent of his catch-and-shoot three-point field goals in 2024-25, which is especially impressive considering he attempted 4.0 per game. Among players who attempted at least 4.0 catch-and-shoot three-point field goals per contest, only Kevin Durant and Isaiah Joe converted a higher percentage than Powell.
Not to be confused with a one-dimensional sharpshooter, Powell also shot 37.8 percent on 3.1 pull-up three-point field goal attempts per game.
Furthermore, Powell shot 42.6 percent on above-the-break threes and 39.4 percent on corner threes, thus further establishing his versatility as a shooter. He also shot 56.5 percent on driving layups and utilized an effective floater to constantly keep bigs on their heels.
In all, Powell averaged 9.6 drives and 7.0 points via drives per game, shooting 50.9 percent. That mark of 7.0 would've ranked No. 2 on the Heat behind only Herro.
Regardless of what position Powell was put in, he turned offensive opportunities into efficient attempts at putting points on the board. That unrivaled efficiency in points per touch makes him the perfect fit for an offense that projects to be built around a pair of All-Stars in Adebayo and Herro.
Patience will be essential as Powell develops chemistry with his new teammates, but he's already proven to be a reliable source of offense at multiple stops.