Norman Powell is going to Oregon.
The Portland Trail Blazers were in the NBA’s trading deadline on Thursday, and they signed a deal to acquire Powell in exchange for Gary Trent Jr. and Rodney Hood. The deal was first reported by ESPN.
Powell is a tenacious top scorer who gives the Blazers another option on the defensive court alongside Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Powell is in the middle of a career, averaging 19.6 points this season, shooting 49.8% from the field and 43.9% from the bottom.
Now that Blazers have a new face, how are people feeling about the acquisition? Let’s take a look at how the media across the country are evaluating the business:
Sam Quinn from CBS Sports thinks the Blazers probably should have taken another path and added someone on the defensive side.
Commercial classification of Trail Blazers: C +
In terms of talent, it may be a small update. Top scorers as good as Powell almost never available on time. For certain teams, that offensive advantage would be incredibly valuable. It is simply not clear whether Portland is one of them. His attack currently ranks sixth in the NBA, but that does not give you due credit. The Blazers achieved this ranking despite a series of injuries and, in the context of NBA history, this season was so strongly offensive in the league that their 6th place would give them the seventh most efficient attack in NBA history. Firepower was not what this team needed.
A defensive update would have been a good thing, however. Portland occupies 29th place in the standings and has been fighting for years, in part because of the small stature of its backcourt. Powell is only 6-4. It does not help on that front and, although it is not a defensive risk, it is a relegation in Trento. The defense ranked 29th in the NBA should not be closing deals with an expiration date that would harm their defense.
The truth is that this deal was probably done in part because of information to which we do not have access. The Blazers have a sense of how much Trent would cost in that off-season, because they had him in the building. For some reason, they apparently decided that they would rather pay Powell everything he asks for than Trent everything he asks for. This is a choice that would make sense for some teams. On paper, not for Portland. Any slight improvement in talent does not make up for the questionable fit here.
Charles Curtis USA Today’s For The Win believes the Blazers should have continued with Trent Jr.:
Commercial class: B-
Here’s the thing: I understand that Powell is really good. He averages 19.6 percentage points as high as possible and has reached 43.9 percent away this season. This is great for a team that may be chasing a turnaround in the postseason.
That said – and I’ll talk more about that below – they had Gary Trent Jr.! It reached 39.7 deep! He’s younger than Powell! I think I felt that the Blazers could have stayed with him and he would have flourished even more – and, he is a restricted free agent in this off-season, which can complicate things – but I also think Portland thinks he can win now. Still, is it worth the update? We will find out.
Sports Illustrated Rohan Nadkarni thinks the move brings the Blazers a little closer to a race in the NBA finals:
Commercial class: B
It took me a while to see the vision of this movement, and I think it is quite solid, nothing more, nothing less. Powell and Trent are very capable players. Powell has a little more variation in his offensive play, although he can be a little less effective defensively. This variation will be taken advantage of, as Powell will receive many open looks and less defenders thanks to all the attention commanded by Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Although I would prefer Trent’s small size advantage on the wing, Powell is still capable at that end of the runway, and he will have to be to protect some of the explosive wings at the conference.
Powell must refuse his player choice and become a free agent this summer, which means the Blazers will have to pay to keep him around. Maybe Portland expects the bidding to be stronger for Trent Jr., but if they ended up winning the same amount of money – or Powell somehow winning more – wouldn’t the Blazers have preferred the younger guy? And while Hood fought this season and wasn’t necessarily a career change player, he did manage to play a playoff game for the Blazers two years ago. This means that the depth of Portland suffers a small blow here too. Portland is probably a little closer to a race in the finals with this move. The closer PDX gets to the cost of negotiating a 22-year-old whose free agency will be restricted is where I hesitate a little.
SB Nation’s Ricky O’Donnell gave the movement a high note:
Commercial class: A-
Powell is in the middle of a career season and is expected to be an unrestricted free agent in the summer. The 27-year-old has an average of 19.6 points per game, with 50% field shots and 44% three-point shots this year. Portland has always looked for another dynamic sniper on the perimeter alongside Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, and Powell could be that.
It is a blow to lose Trent, who will be an unrestricted free agent next season and has become a good player since his climb into the bubble. Still, Trent didn’t fit so well with the Blazers on the court, and Powell offers more immediate help this year.
E Bleacher Report Dan Favale is not very impressed with the trade:
Commercial class: C
Someone may need to explain the logic of the Blazers. This movement seems unnecessarily lateral in a vacuum.
Gary Trent Jr. has cooled off the ground in the past few weeks, but that drop will normalize. Perhaps the Blazers are nervous about their free (restricted) agency, but they can’t feel much better about Norman Powell’s next price (player option). Both players will be paid.
This is not to say that choosing Powell over Trent is ridiculous. It is a little shorter, but has more length to use as a weapon on the defensive end and will score on more levels. Trent showed a special touch, but does not reach the rim enough to become a weapon.
Powell will also be one year old. He averages 19.6 points, while he gets 55.2 percent of his two and 43.9 percent of the three, including 41.0 percent of its triple pull-up. Zach LaVine is the only other player who matches his average score and pitch divisions. Portland can feel better about Powell’s impact on a series of playoffs as a complementary and innovative creator.
– Aron Yohannes