The Clippers’ defense was worse than expected last year, and was downright bad in the second half of the season, and Norm was a reason why. This is because he’s very poor off-ball and in help, regularly getting confused on assignments and not making it well through screens. Hopefully Norm is one of the only bad rebounders this year and his weakness can be papered over.ĭespite what I said above about his on-ball defense, in actuality, despite his reputation, Norm is a well below-average defensive player. Russell Westbrook is a big plus in that regard, and more of Terance Mann, Paul George, and Kawhi should help too. ![]() Rebounding isn’t a necessity for a shooting guard, but it’s always a helpful skill, and the Clippers’ non-big men being mostly awful rebounders last year was a big reason their small-ball units didn’t work. Similarly, his total rebound percentage of 6.4% was fourth lowest as well, with those same three behind him. That translated to 5.5 rebounds per 100 possessions, the fourth lowest on the team (ahead of Amir, Reggie, and Eric Gordon). Norm is also an anemic rebounder, grabbing just 2.9 boards in his more than 26 minutes per game. That makes his utility on offense limited even with his scoring on- and off-ball. Unlike Clippers’ 6 th man comparison Lou Williams, Norm is not remotely capable of running an offense – he’s a play finisher, not a starter. Norm is a head-down kind of player, who while not a ball hog, simply does not look to create for teammates frequently and hasn’t flashed much in actual passing acumen when he does. While not super turnover prone, his assist to turnover ratio barely clears 1, which is very much not ideal. Despite his total scoring package, he’s not an adept creator for others, averaging just 1.8 assists, or tied for 9 th on the team among rotation players despite ranking 3 rd in scoring and 5 th in usage. Weaknessesīy far Norm’s biggest weakness is his lack of playmaking. He has the stoutness and wingspan to at least contest shots and body up larger wings, making him capable of switching positions defensively, a boon in the Clippers’ switch-heavy schemes. He doesn’t move off-ball like Luke Kennard did, but he’s still a useful floor spacer and off-ball shooter.įinally, while Norm is not an on-ball menace, he’s usually decent when guarding opposing ball-handlers, especially if they’re relatively in his size range (he can struggle against smaller, quicker guards). Most importantly, he has enough of a sample size to have the reputation as a good shooter, and is thus guarded closely at long range, creating spacing. Most of Norm’s threes (87.7%) are assisted, meaning off the catch or move, but he can take them off the dribble when defenders sag off him. For his career he’s a 38.6% shooter from deep, but that goes much higher when removing his first three seasons, when he was a poor shooter on low volume. Norm is an excellent three-point shooter, making 39.7% of his shots from deep last year on 4.8 attempts per game, which isn’t super high volume, but is not low either. The Clippers lack of juice has been an issue on offense in the last few years, and Norm is a good remedy for that. Additionally, 24.1% of Norm’s shots came at the rim, third-highest among perimeter players behind Russell Westbrook and Terance Mann, and he’s a good finisher once he gets there. He’s extremely quick slashing to the rim and has the strength to power through defenders to earn free throws, which were desperately needed by the Clippers, who are a jump shot heavy team. He was third on the 2023 Clippers with an average of 4.8 free throw attempts per game, and his free throw rate was the highest of any rotation perimeter player by a wide margin. ![]() Strengthsįor the Clippers, Norm Powell’s best attribute is his downhill scoring ability. Really, if he can more or less duplicate his 2023 season, but with more games played (ideally 70+, though Norm has always been injury-prone), he will be giving the Clippers what they need of him. While availability was a factor last year, with Powell missing 22 games, he otherwise turned in exactly what was expected of him after a slow start. He is going to be the Clippers’ 6 th man, playing 25 to 30+ minutes per game in most contests, and is a designated scorer and shooter with limited other responsibilities. Norman Powell might have the clearest role on the 2024 Clippers outside of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, especially with no Eric Gordon or Luke Kennard on the roster this season. Key Stats: 17.0 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.8 steals, and 1.7 turnovers in 26.1 minutes per game across 60 games played (8 starts) on 47.9/39.7/81.2 shooting splits with 61.2% TS in regular seasonĬontract Status: Three years left on a 5 year, $90M extension, $18M this season Expectations Our player preview series for the 2024 Clippers season continues with Norman Powell, the Clippers’ veteran 6 th man and reserve shooting guard.
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