Tag: Norman Powell

Norman Powell trade grades: Who won the Raptors and Blazers deal?

An interesting one for both sides!

The 2021 NBA trade deadline has given us PLENTY to talk about: the Orlando Magic cleaning house with three deals, the Denver Nuggets getting JaVale McGee and Aaron Gordon and more.

There’s also a deal we’re about to talk about: the Toronto Raptors sent guard Norman Powell to the Portland Trail Blazers, giving Damian Lillard’s team another big weapon off the bench to add into the mix, while the Raps ended up with a good return.

And, as we’re doing with all the major trades of the day, we’ll hand out some grades on this deal. Let’s break it all down for you:

Report: Rockets interested in trade for Raptors guard Norman Powell

A 27-year-old shooting guard, Powell is averaging 19.5 points (43.4% on 3-pointers) in 30.5 minutes per game this season.

The Rockets appear to be interested in trading for Toronto Raptors guard Norman Powell, potentially in a deal involving Victor Oladipo, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

A 6-foot-4 shooting guard, Powell is averaging 19.5 points (43.4% on 3-pointers) in 30.5 minutes per game. Over the last three seasons, the 27-year-old is shooting 41.2% from 3-point range, which makes him one of the NBA’s top perimeter shooters. Feigen elaborates:

Oladipo is expected to be the focus of as many or more talks than any player in the league. Raptors guard Norman Powell, who like Oladipo can be a free agent this summer, is among the Rockets targets with conversations on deals that would involve multiple teams and players, according to an individual with knowledge of the talks. Powell has had a breakthrough season, averaging 19.5 points on 43.5 percent 3-point shooting and is expected to turn down an $11.6 million player option.

This season’s trade deadline is at 2 p.m. Central on Thursday.

On paper, Powell makes a lot of sense for the Rockets. As one of the NBA’s best 3-point shooters, he could significantly help out the league’s worst 3-point shooting team (by accuracy). And even though the Rockets (12-30) are unlikely to make the playoffs in 2021, Powell is young enough that he could be a valuable contributor for years to come.

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However, whether a deal gets done will likely come down to contract terms, and of Powell wants to be in Houston. While the Rockets also had interest in Orlando forward Aaron Gordon, it appears that those talks stalled once Gordon — a free agent in the 2022 offseason — made it clear that he wasn’t interested in signing a contract extension. With Powell, who could become a free agent in 2021, the stakes are even higher.

Without an extension, the Rockets would basically be in the same place with Powell that they currently are with Oladipo. For a team that is very unlikely to make the 2021 playoffs, it seems doubtful that Houston general manager Rafael Stone would give up any asset of significance for a player whose only guaranteed contribution is in the 2020-21 season. Thus, while Powell makes basketball sense as a trade target, the ultimate viability of a deal will likely depend on business factors, as well.

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Woj: Sixers have shown interest in Lonzo Ball, George Hill, Norman Powell

The Philadelphia 76ers have shown their interest in Lonzo Ball, George Hill, and Norman Powell.

The Philadelphia 76ers are led by one of the more bold team presidents in the league in Daryl Morey who pulled the trigger on some big moves with the Houston Rockets in the past. Even in his short time with the Sixers, he has made some big moves to help them get to the top of the East.

With the trade deadline right around the corner on Thursday, Morey figures to be active in his quest to help the Sixers make a deep run in the playoffs. There are plenty of needs that the team has right now, including a backup point guard and a need for some more shot creators from the perimeter.

The team has kept their interest in Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, but they also have their eyes on other options such as Lowry’s backcourt mate Norman Powell as well as New Orleans Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball and Oklahoma City Thunder guard George Hill.

Ball is having a solid season in New Orleans averaging 14.2 points and 5.6 assists and he is also shooting a career-high 38.5% from deep on 7.8 attempts. If the Sixers can bring a guy like Ball in to be their backup, or even start if coach Doc Rivers were to choose so, he would be an immediate help as another ball-handler.

Of course, Powell is playing well averaging 26.6 points and shooting 44.4% from deep over his last 10 games and Hill is a proven veteran. Although, Hill has only played 14 games this season due to a thumb injury.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Report: Celtics have ‘been linked to Powell discussions as the deadline draws closer’

Could the Celtics be serious about dealing for Powell?

The Boston Celtics may be casting a wide net ahead of the 2021 NBA trade deadline, with Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer sharing that the Celtics are among the teams looking into a potential trade for the Toronto Raptors‘ Norman Powell.

Boston evidently joins the Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks in asking after the Raptors shooting guard, who is expected to opt out of the final year of his current, $10.8 million deal to test free agency this offseason. Powell is having something of a career year with Toronto despite the team’s recent woes, scoring 19.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game this season while shooting 44.4% from deep.

Per Fischer, there is a strong consensus the UCLA product will be moved before the deadline in at least some circles.

It would seem likely that the Raptors would have a high asking price in mind for such a player regardless, but at least at present there doesn’t seem to be much information out there what Toronto would be after if it did deal Powell.

Add the California native to a growing list of potential 2021 Celtics trade targets until we get some fire to this proverbial smoke.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Victor Oladipo snaps slump, but Toronto extends Rockets’ skid to 10

Oladipo scored 27 points and shot over 40% from the field for the first time this month, but Houston still lost its 10th straight game.

Victor Oladipo scored a team-high 27 points on 9-of-21 shooting (42.9%), including 4-of-10 on 3-pointers (40.0%), but it wasn’t enough for the Houston Rockets in Friday’s 122-111 loss (box score) to Toronto.

It’s the 10th straight loss for the Rockets (11-20), which hasn’t happened for the franchise in more than 20 years. All of those losses have come without star center Christian Wood, who sprained his right ankle on Feb. 4. Houston went 7-1 in the eight games prior to that injury.

For Oladipo, it was his first time in the month of February to exceed 40% from the field, and his second-highest scoring game (out of 13) since being traded to the Rockets in mid-January. John Wall added 21 points and a game-high 12 assists, while Eric Gordon scored 17 off the bench.

A two-time All-Star in the final year of his contract, Oladipo is widely viewed as a likely trade candidate by the NBA’s March 25 deadline — assuming the Rockets don’t dramatically turn their season around.

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The Raptors (17-17), who hosted the game in their temporary home of Tampa due to the COVID-19 pandemic, were led by 30 points from Norman Powell. Fred VanVleet added 25 points, while Kyle Lowry had a triple-double with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists.

Houston trailed by as many as 23 in the third quarter before cutting the lead to as small as six in the fourth, but they couldn’t get over the hump.

Here’s a selection of highlights and postgame reaction from Friday night in Tampa. The Rockets will return to action on Sunday night in Houston, when they host the Memphis Grizzlies on the first night of a back-to-back. If usual trends hold, Wall and Oladipo are each likely to miss one game of the two to be played on Sunday and Monday at Toyota Center.

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Free agency stock watch: Jarrett Allen, Derrick Rose, Norman Powell and more

We are getting closer to the 2021 NBA trade deadline, which means teams will soon have to make decisions about the future of their rosters. That kind of critical thinking surrounding roster construction impacts players around the league. So as front …

We are getting closer to the 2021 NBA trade deadline, which means teams will soon have to make decisions about the future of their rosters.

That kind of critical thinking surrounding roster construction impacts players around the league. So as front offices continue to look inward and examine if they will be buyers or sellers when the trade market heats up, executives are also thinking about who they plan to re-sign or let walk during the offseason.

As part of our ongoing series at HoopsHype, we are looking at whose free agency stock has gone up – and down – over the last several games.

Raptors and Celtics both say potential boycotts are being discussed

Players from both the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics both admit that they’ve been discussing not playing after the Jacob Blake shooting.

The shooting of Jacob Blake seven times by police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin has added a layer of sadness, anger, and frustration to the NBA bubble, where the majority Black league has had to once again face issues of police brutality and racial violence. LeBron James reacted after last night’s Game 4 by discussing the frustrations and fear Black people feel in this country, both with the police and armed citizens carrying out violence. But the conversation on Tuesday changed a little bit with two teams, the Boston Celtics and the Toronto Raptors, preparing to start their second-round series later this week.

Players on both teams expressed their disillusionment that little has changed after getting to the bubble, despite the league’s social justice messaging, while also acknowledging that both teams have discussed not playing.

Marcus Smart of the Celtics said that what the NBA has been trying to do is not working.

Raptors guard Norman Powell also said that a boycott is among the things being discussed while going off on how tired he is of having to talk about the same issue over and over again with nothing changing.

LeBron said after the game that his mind is both focused on the task of the Lakers on the court but also on how to improve the lives of Black people. But it’s become clear that how LeBron feels is not the only strong feeling among players in the Orlando bubble. Game 1 of Celtics-Raptors is scheduled for Thursday.

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The HoopsHype Weekly: The Top 10 X-Factor players for the 2020 NBA playoffs

HoopsHype chooses and ranks 10 X-Factor type players who might come out of nowhere and come up huge in the upcoming 2020 playoffs.

You can get this content every Saturday morning in your email inbox. Click here to subscribe to the HoopsHype Weekly newsletter.

TOP 10 PLAYOFF X-FACTORS: At times, players come out of nowhere in the playoffs and elevate their games, giving their teams the unexpected push they needed to win a vital game or two.

Who could those players be at the Orlando bubble playoffs? Below, we rank our Top 10:

10. Dion Waiters: Averaging 11.9 points and 2.4 assists in the bubble, Waiters never runs low on self-confidence and has the capability to get hot at a moment’s notice. The Lakers could certainly use his perimeter scoring in the playoffs, and his drive-and-kick game remains underrated.

9. Seth Curry: The younger Curry brother is an elite outside shooter in his own right, and his knockdown prowess from three-point range could come up huge for Dallas against the favored Clippers in the first round.

8. Andre Roberson: In his first action since a year-plus-long injury recovery, the Colorado product averaged merely 2.8 points in the bubble, but did knock down a healthy 37.5 percent of his three-point looks. Against a high-powered offense in Houston in Round 1, Roberson’s defensive chops will be hugely important for OKC’s chances.

7. Donte DiVincenzo: A non-star player stepping up for the Bucks in the playoffs would be almost unfair considering how loaded they are as is, but if anyone can do it, it’s DiVincenzo, thanks to his competitiveness, his confident nature and his ability to get hot quick.

6. Eric Gordon: With Russell Westbrook set to miss time with a quad injury, Gordon will be even more important for Houston’s chances in the postseason. Gordon has dealt with his own injury troubles this year, including recently, but he’s going to need to be ready to go as soon as the postseason rolls around.

5. Norman Powell: Powell stepping up wouldn’t be a new thing, as he’s been solid for Toronto all year long, averaging 16.0 points this season while shooting 39.6 percent from three. But if he can elevate his production even more in the playoffs, the Raptors would be getting a much-needed boost to their offense in the bubble.

4. Tyler Herro: The bucket-getting 2-guard has had a solid rookie season, but seems to be taking his play to an even higher level in the bubble, where he’s averaging 19.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists over his last six games while slashing fiery 53.9/39.4/100.0 shooting splits. If he can maintain that level of production, Miami will be a tough out in the postseason.

3. Mike Conley: The Jazz point guard came into this season with huge expectations, as many thought he’d give Utah the dynamic point guard they’d been missing. To this point, however, that hasn’t really been the case. The playoffs will be a good chance for Conley to live up to the hype, especially with Bojan Bogdanovic out for the rest of the year.

2. Al Horford: Without Ben Simmons available, Horford was reinstated into Philadelphia’s starting lineup this week, and he’s going to need to be in top form for the Sixers to make a deep playoff push without their star point guard.

1. Michael Porter: The young, exciting swingman was sensational in the bubble, averaging over 22 points and eight rebounds per game while shooting north of 42 percent from three. If Denver is going to make a run in the postseason, he’s going to need to keep up that level of production, especially with Gary Harris and Will Barton not showing signs of returning any time soon.

MAJOR RETURN: It looks like the Clippers will have their Sixth Man of the Year candidate big man Montrezl Harrell available for the playoffs, which was not a sure thing as recently as yesterday morning.

ANOTHER COACHING FIRING: After an uncomfortably long wait, the Bulls finally announced that they would, in fact, be firing head coach Jim Boylen after two seasons on the job. Boylen went 39-84 in that stretch, but even beyond that, had various public, odd slip-ups while in Chicago.

Kenny Atkinson, Ime Udoka and Adrian Griffin will be among the Bulls’ top candidates to take over the job.

FREE-AGENT FORESHADOWING? Without hinting as to who he could be thinking about, Jimmy Butler confidently told ESPN he expects another star to join him on the Heat.

TOP TARGET: After last year’s fireworks, the Nets will have a quieter offseason over the coming months. Nevertheless, one order of business they’ll need to take care of is re-signing Joe Harris, which GM Sean Marks called their top priority.

Harris was the league’s 157th-highest-paid player this year, a number that will undoubtedly rise as soon as he signs his next deal.

BARKLEY TO BARSTOOL? After making huge waves in the media world this week by hiring NFL legend Deion Sanders, Barstool Sports president Dave Portnoy has his eyes on picking up Charles Barkley next. We’ll see what TNT has to say about that.

BUBBLE MVP RANKINGS: With the seeding games wrapped up, we ranked the Top 10 bubble MVP candidates. No. 1 is pretty obvious.

FRESH POD: Myles Turner joined our own Michael Scotto this week for a new edition of the HoopsHype podcast. The two talked about a variety of topics, including Victor Oladipo free-agency rumors, life in the bubble and dating.

MEDIA FOLLOWINGS: We ranked popular NBA media Twitter accounts by which ones had the highest number of NBA players following them. Somewhat surprisingly, Woj did not come in first.

30 AWARD CANDIDATES: We chose the top candidate for an end-of-season award from every single team. Some are a bit more plausible than others.

WINNING PLAYERS: NBA teams are lucky in that landing a single star player can lift up their entire team. To take a deeper look at that, we ranked various players by how much they elevated their teams’ winning percentages while they were on the roster.

Norman Powell’s career high 37 points spoils Steph Curry’s return from injury, 121-113

Stephen Curry’s 23 points in his return from injury wasn’t enough against the defending champion Toronto Raptors.

In a rematch of the 2019 Finals, the Golden State Warriors game against the Toronto Raptors was one of the most anticipated games on the NBA’s slate. Stephen Curry made his long-awaited return to the court after missing the past 58 games.

Yet, the defending NBA champions spoiled Curry’s reunion at Chase Center in San Francisco, 121-113.

The Warriors battled the Eastern Conference playoff-bound Raptors late into the game. However, even with Curry’s help, Golden State could not closeout.

The Dubs cut the Raptors lead to one-point heading into the final period of the game. Yet, the talent of Pascal Siakam and Kyle Lowry took over the contest. Golden State made it entertaining at the end of the game with a late run with Curry on the floor, but it wasn’t enough.

Lowry and Siakam combined for 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting in the fourth quarter to hold off the gritty Warriors.

The Raptors sealed Golden State’s 10th straight loss at home this season. The Warriors will have the chance to snap their 10-game home losing streak on Saturday when the Philadelphia 76ers come to the Bay Area.

Stephen Curry

Curry was on a minutes restriction against the Raptors, but the six-time All-Star took advantage of his time back on the court. Curry scored 23 points on 6-of-16 shooting in 27 minutes. Curry added seven assists and six rebounds against the Raptors.

In his return, Curry flashed glimpses of his All-Star caliber play. Whether it was long-distance shooting or crafty passes, the two-time Most Valuable Player looked like his old self on the court.

Norman Powell

All-Stars like Siakam and Lowry lead the Raptors, but against the Warriors, Norman Powell arrived. Powell registered a career-high 37 points on 13-of-20 shooting in 38 minutes for the Raptors. The UCLA product added three rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Anytime the Warriors chipped away at Toronto’s lead, Powell answered.

Damion Lee

Damion Lee continued his breakout campaign with another solid performance. Lee matched Curry’s total with 23 points on 8-of-17 shooting while adding five rebounds and three assists.

Lee had back-to-back chances to keep the Warriors in the game late, but could not convert a pair of free throws. When Marquese Chriss stole an offensive rebound, Lee missed an open 3-pointer to cut Toronto’s lead to three with under a minute remaining.

Second-half comeback falls short as Toronto outlasts OKC 130-121

Down by 30 in the second quarter, the Thunder put together a second-half comeback that saw them draw within one with two minutes to play.

They almost pulled it off.

Down by 30 late in the second quarter, Oklahoma City put together yet another second-half comeback that saw them draw within one with 2:09 left in the game.

But the Raptors finished on an 8-0 run to escape Chesapeake Energy Arena with a 130-121 win on Wednesday night.

Toronto had seven players in double-digits, including former Thunder forward, Serge Ibaka, who finished with 15. The Raptors were led by Norman Powell, who came off the bench to score 23.

Oklahoma City’s leading scorer also came off the bench, as Dennis Schroder lived up to his reputation as one of, if not the, best sixth man in the country. Schroder scored a game-high 25 on 10-of-17 shooting and hit 5 of his 10 three-point attempts.

A game removed from his historic triple-double, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21, grabbing six rebounds, dishing out six assists, and creating three steals.

Three other players were in double-digits for OKC, Danilo Gallinari with 23, Mike Muscala with 17, and Chris Paul with 16.

Steven Adams played only seven minutes and, per Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman, was ruled out at the half with a right knee contusion. Without Adams, and already missing Nerlens Noel who is still sidelined with an ankle sprain, Toronto dominated the points in the paint, outscoring Oklahoma City 62-48.

The Thunder and Raptors split their regular-season series, they will not play against each other for the rest of the year.

Oklahoma City falls to 23-18 and is back in action on Friday when they host the Miami Heat.