Norman Powell
Los Angeles Clippers

Player Facts

Height: 6'3"
Weight: 215lbs.

Wingspan: 6'10.75"

Date of Birth: May 25, 1993
College Experience: UCLA (4 years)

Selections

All Star: 0
All-NBA: 0
All-Defensive: 0

Player Grades

Speed/Explosiveness: 9
Physical Strength: 7
Positional Size: 5
Positional Wingspan: 8
Paint Scoring: 8
Midrange Scoring: 6
Three-Point Scoring: 9
Dribbling: 8
Passing: 6
Perimeter Defense: 6
Interior Defense: 5
Rebounding: 3

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JUMP TO SECTION

> Intro

> Sturdy Slashing

> Athletic Finishing

> Smooth Off-Ball Play

> Extra Means of Attacking

> Intelligent Man Defense

> Containing Guards

> Forcing Turnovers

> Relatively Weak Creativity

> Size Disadvantage on Forwards

> Beacon Bacon

>Link to Player Contract & Salary Info

*All short clips courtesy of NF & Z.Highlights (YouTube),

*All statistical data courtesy of NBA Advanced Stats

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STRENGTHS

Intro

The 6'3" two-guard is a UCLA product. Powell has blossomed into an efficient scoring guard with more than adequate defense. Norm brings that splash-and-slash archetype as a modern off-ball scorer. He's got serious pop in him, allowing for some above-the-rim finishes.

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Sturdy Slashing

As the league has transitioned to the pace-and-space era, Powell has fit in neatly. He doesn't use the midrange all that much, and that is by design.

He keeps his main scoring areas to right at the rim and three-point land. His selectiveness and finishing talent have allowed him to shoot north of 49% on two's in all but his rookie campaign. Furthermore, he's always been a strong free-throw shooter.

Norm gets downhill with his great athleticism. The coaching staff looks to get him going towards the rim whenever possible. He tears off screens and will decisively barrel to the hole on the catch.

Norman utilizes long strides along his attack. His 1-2 steps at the end are dynamic, and he can float to finish over the top of the help. Powell securely fastens the basketball in his hands as he gathers to go up.

Eurosteps are also a weapon of Norm's. After all, he came out of UCLA as a relatively refined slasher who proceeded to work hard on his jumper. This all culminated in a well-rounded offensive sparkplug who can start or come off the bench for you.

Athletic Finishing

That spring in his last step and that near 6'11" wingspan help make Norman Powell a strong finisher. He often looks to punch it over defenders with a one-hand jam. He's even developed his left on extended layups so as to finish away from the help.

He finished a highly impressive 54.4% of his 8.5 driving shot attempts/game in 2022-2023. Norm eclipsed 63% as a finisher at the rim overall that year as he is oft to do. That super-accurate clip bested many much bigger wings' conversion rates.

Smooth Off-Ball Play

Norm continues to be an awesome scorer in the open court. This strength within his game helps his scalability next to higher-usage guys. His adeptness with leaking out and finishing in the open court is something that fits alongside anyone.

The electric Norm posted a productive 3.7 points per contest in transition across 2022-2023. The former Bruin's ability to decelerate into the finish right after outrunning people to the rim is outstanding. His distance shooting is another weapon that is a value-add here, as well as in the half-court.

Norman has played with numerous star-level guys from DeMar DeRozan to Pascal Siakam and now Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and James Harden. His skillful off-ball game lets him space the floor and remain valuable away from the play. He makes it a point to get his legs into the shot for a springy, high-arching jumper that can be shot over taller people.

The 6'3" guard canned 46.5% of his spot-up jumpers (mostly 3s) in 2022-2023. That placed hm in the NBA's 82nd percentile on the season. Going back, he cleared 42% on catch-and-shoot triples from 2018-2019 until 2023-2024. That is a remarkable sustained run of elite shooting across multiple teams/systems.

Extra Means of Attacking

Norm attacks closeouts as well as anyone with that combustible first step in tow. He's not too shabby as a passer in these spots, making the simple read on the interior. Norman can accurately make the little dump-off if the big steps up to him.

To round out his off-ball play, scoring on handoffs and basket cuts will be highlighted. Norm uses that same aggressive slashing to turn the corner within DHO's – in the 81st percentile in 2022-2023. Moreover, Powell's killer cutting against overplays, top-locks, and just inattentive defenders earned him the 90th percentile in this capacity (2022-2023).

Intelligent Man Defense

Norman pairs his scoring capabilities with some serviceable defense. He's generally just a low-mistake player who won't disappoint you too much on either end. His basketball IQ, understanding of schemes, and attention to detail help out most on this end of the floor.

He consistently locks in, getting seated in his stance and unfurling those long arms. The same closing speed/last step that he uses to score inside can also be employed to recover on defense.

Containing Guards

Norman spends a lot of time on guards. He can easily stick with most point guards save for the freakishly athletic speedsters. For the most part, he offers solid positional defense on these players.

In 2021-2021 he just under 332 minutes checking one's and two's. He held them to 42.8% shooting from the field. That opposing clip was an even stinger 39.2% on backcourt players the season prior.

The hard-playing Norm doesn't make it easy on players looking to receive a handoff cleanly. He defends these actions well and gets some poke-aways with that elongated reach.

Forcing Turnovers

Powell can play the chaser/disruptor role for you as well with his strong hands. Particularly in zone defenses, he can astutely read incoming passes and seek to intercept them. Expectedly, the athletic Norm can take these the other way for a quick score.

He tends to be around 1.2-1.5 steals per-36 minutes for a given year. Additionally, in 2022-2023 he deflected the ball 2 times per-36. That was the same figure as Mikal Bridges, Derrick White, Immanuel Quickley, and Josh Hart.

WEAKNESSES

Relatively Weak Creativity

Norm typically needs to offense to generate a look for him. He is a high-impact guy within this finisher-type role but as a two-guard should be a more robust initiator. While he has done better here when given some leash, this still lags behind his effectiveness as a second-side guy.

Further to the point about underdeveloped creation, Powell is by no means a great passer. He's perhaps about average but probably below that compared to his high-minute positional peers. Norman's not a selfish player, he's team-first. But, he simply doesn't make advanced cross-court reads nor execute pinpoint lobs very often.

He generated a measly 4.7 points/night for teammates in 2022-2023. That pales in comparison to his own personal 17 a game that year.

All of these offensive shortcomings culminate in making Norm more of an ancillary piece in an offense. He often should start to be most effective, playing off of teammates' penetration and bursting through seams they unearth. It is difficult for him to prop up bench units the way that more creative guards can (i.e. Monte Morris, Caris LeVert).

Size Disadvantage on Forwards

Defensively, Norm is simply too little to check many of the game's wings. This leaves him having to check taller swingmen at just 6'3" himself. Being shorter here also makes it hard for him to beat people to the boards.

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Beacon Bacon

Norm was the 46th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft by Milwaukee, promptly packaged with a future first that turned into OG Anunoby (for Greivis Vásquez)