Norman Powell Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Fischer’s Latest: McCollum, Powell, Simmons, Turner, Hawks, Schroder

January 13th, 2022 at 1:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

Anfernee Simons‘ breakout season is leading to speculation that the Trail Blazers may try to trade CJ McCollum or Norman Powell, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report. Portland entered the season with plans to be a contender, but injuries and some disappointing performances have left the team in a tight race for a play-in spot. With Damian Lillard sidelined after abdominal surgery, the Blazers may opt to unload some of their assets and take advantage of a high draft pick going into next season.

There have been whispers throughout the league that McCollum might be available, though Fischer wonders how much of a return he’ll provide considering that he’s 30 years old, is in the middle of a down season, and has been out of action for six weeks after suffering a collapsed lung. He also has two full years left on his contract at $33.3MM and $35.8MM.

Powell, who signed a five-year, $90MM extension during the offseason, seems like a more surprising name to be included in trade talks. However, about a dozen teams wanted to acquire him before he went to Portland at last season’s deadline and Fischer found that many league executives see his contract as valuable.

There’s a belief that Powell wouldn’t mind being traded again, as sources tell Fischer that there were “several snags” in his contract negotiations with the Blazers. One of the teams he considered in free agency was the Pelicans, according to Fischer, who notes that New Orleans is seeking to upgrade to improve its chances of reaching the play-in tournament.

Fischer shares a few more trade rumors from around the league:

Little has changed on the Ben Simmons trade front since the offseason, as Sixers ownership, the front office, coach Doc Rivers, and star center Joel Embiid are all united in the stance that the team needs to get an elite player in return. Fischer states that Philadelphia is willing to wait for someone along the lines of Lillard, Bradley Beal, James Harden or Jaylen Brown to become available. The Sixers have discussed three-team packages with the Kings, Pacers and Timberwolves, but none of those teams can offer a star that Philadelphia sees as equal value for Simmons.
The Pacers are seeking multiple first-round picks in exchange for center Myles Turner. The Mavericks, Timberwolves, Knicks, Kings, Hornets and Trail Blazers have all expressed interest, and several league executives told Fischer that the Raptors might be a team to watch. The Cavaliers and Knicks have asked about Caris LeVert, but Indiana also wants multiple first-rounders for him. The Pacers have gauged the trade value of Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb and Torrey Craig too, Fischer adds.
The Hawks are willing to consider a major upheaval before the deadline, with a rival assistant GM telling Fischer that he believes everyone except Trae Young and Clint Capela are available. Atlanta appears willing to move De’Andre Hunter for veteran help, and there may be a market for Danilo Gallinari, who only has a $5MM guarantee next season on his $20MM contract.
The Celtics will try to trade Dennis Schröder, who is unlikely to be re-signed next season because of tax considerations. The Knicks, Cavaliers and Mavericks are all possible destinations. Boston has also targeted Suns center Jalen Smith, who will be a free agent after Phoenix declined his third-year option.

COVID-19 Updates: Powell, Kings, Pacers, Lopez, Springer, Pons

January 10th, 2022 at 8:51am CST by Luke Adams

Trail Blazers wing Norman Powell entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols on Sunday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

As our tracker shows, Powell is currently the only Portland player in the protocols. However, the Trail Blazers are also missing Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum due to injuries, so Powell’s absence means the team is without its three top scorers. Lillard, McCollum, and Powell are averaging a combined 63.2 points per game so far this season.

Here are more protocol-related updates from around the NBA:

The Kings added one big man – center Damian Jones – to the protocols on Sunday as another – forward/center Chimezie Metu – exited, per reports from James Ham of ESPN 1320 and Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter links).
Pacers swingman Torrey Craig and center Isaiah Jackson were back at practice on Sunday, signaling they’ve cleared the protocols, tweets James Boyd of The Indianapolis Star. Indiana still has four players in the protocols.
Robin Lopez remained sidelined for Sunday’s game vs. Washington, but the Magic center was no longer listed in the protocols, having progressed to return to competition reconditioning (Twitter link via Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel).
Sixers rookie Jaden Springer has exited the protocols, but has been ruled out for Monday’s game in Houston due to a non-COVID illness, as Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer relays (via Twitter).
Grizzlies two-way player Yves Pons was placed in the health and safety protocols on Saturday, but was no longer listed in the protocols for Sunday’s game, suggesting he registered a false positive or inconclusive test (Twitter links).

Blazers Notes: Lineups, Nance, Little, Powell

November 18th, 2021 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

Since head coach Chauncey Billups criticized the team’s compete level on Sunday and suggested that lineup changes could be coming, the Trail Blazers have reeled off wins against Toronto and Chicago this week, pushing their record back up to .500 (8-8).

The Blazers didn’t make any changes to their starting lineup in those two games, but the team is leaning a little more on reserves Larry Nance Jr. and Nassir Little, who played more total minutes in the last two games than starters Jusuf Nurkic and Robert Covington.

When Nance and Little played the entire fourth quarter vs. Toronto on Monday while Nurkic and Covington sat on the bench, Billups was asked about the decision. As Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian tweets, the first-year coach said it was more about matchups vs. Toronto than an indication of imminent lineup changes. Still, it seems clear Nance and Little have earned bigger roles with their play so far.

Here’s more on the Blazers:

After averaging just 17.2 MPG and never playing more than 22 minutes in any of his first 11 games in Portland, Nance has averaged 22.9 MPG in his last five games. That’s a byproduct of the Blazers getting a better sense of how best to use him, writes Jason Quick of The Athletic. “When he came here I wasn’t sure if he was a four that could play five, or a five that could play some four,” Billups said. “Right now, I’m pretty confident that he is a five who could play four, too. But we are better served with him at that small-ball five.”
For his part, Nance said he’s glad his role has evolved organically rather than having it become an issue the team needed to focus on and figure out. “I think it’s a great thing that we didn’t have to sit down and have a pow-wow about, ‘What’s going on? How do we get Larry involved?'” Nance said, per Quick. “(Billups) knows I’m a guy who you just put me on the floor and I will figure it out. And I pride myself in not being a squeaky wheel.”
The Blazers’ game vs. the Raptors on Monday was a reminder that last season’s Norman Powell/Gary Trent Jr. swap is working out pretty well for both teams, as Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes. Powell has remained a highly efficient scorer in Portland this season, averaging 16.8 PPG on .494/.438/.818 shooting, while Trent has been a ball hawk on defense in Toronto, leading the NBA in total deflections and steals.
Powell signed a new five-year, $90MM deal with the Blazers during the offseason, but he’s determined not to get complacent after securing a life-changing payday. “I never really looked at the money as, like, (an) indicator of how good I’ve been,” Powell said on Monday, per Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. “It’s always been the expectations and goals that I’ve set out for myself … and can I get better? There’s no doubt the money will come if I keep doing those things, and it has, and I’m still hungry for more goals.”

Trail Blazers Notes: Simons, Billups, Little, Powell, Snell

October 25th, 2021 at 7:36pm CST by Dana Gauruder

One way for the Trail Blazers to realize internal improvement would be for fourth-year guard Anfernee Simons to blossom. Simons wants Chauncey Billups to provide tough love in their relationship, Casey Holdahl of the team’s website writes.

“It’s been good, good feedback,” Simons said about the first-year head coach. “Tell me anything no matter what. Have no filter for me. And that’s the only way we’re going to get a better relationship and how we get better.”

Simons is off to a promising start, averaging 14.5 PPG and 2.5 APG.

“I just think he’s so good, he’s so gifted,” Billups said. “The way that he can handle the ball, he can get to anywhere he wants on the floor, he’s a big time shooter. So I’m always just trying to pump confidence into him.”

Simons will be a restricted free agent next season if he receives a qualifying offer from the club.

We have more on the Trail Blazers:

Nassir Little has also found Billups’ coaching style to be productive, as he told Mike Richman in his daily podcast (video link). “He’s calm but he’s straightforward,” Little said. “He’s not going to sugarcoat it or beat around the bush. He holds everybody accountable equally, including himself.”
Norman Powell has been diagnosed with left patellar tendinopathy, Jay Allen of RipCityRadio 620 tweets. Powell departed early in Saturday’s game after injuring his knee. He’s listed as out for tonight’s game against the Clippers.
Tony Snell is also listed as out, Allen adds. Snell continues to work his way back from a right foot sprain that sidelined him during the preseason. Snell suffered a minor setback in his recovery last week.

Northwest Notes: Billups, Powell, Edwards, SGA

October 24th, 2021 at 9:16am CST by Arthur Hill

Chauncey Billups has been emphasizing defense and ball movement since he was hired as the Trail Blazers‘ head coach in June, and that combination was on display in a win over Phoenix Saturday night, writes Jason Quick of The Athletic. Billups inherited a team that reached the playoffs eight straight years under Terry Stotts, but has lost in the first round in four of the past five seasons. He is determined to take the Blazers to a new level, and he said that starts with breaking bad habits.

“I could have taken this job and just kept everything the same and said ‘All right, let’s be a little bit better defensively.’ But they (the players) want more. I want more,” Billups said after his first career coaching victory. “You can’t keep everything the same and expect different results. So, I could have done that. ‘We are going to run everything y’all used to run.’ Great offense, boom, bam. Well, there’s a ceiling on that, in my opinion. Not only in my opinion, we’ve seen it play out.”

The players seem to welcome the new approach, even though it’s delivered with a hard edge. Damian Lillard, who has been the subject of trade speculation, has said that talking to Billups made him more open to staying with the organization. Jusuf Nurkic was so inspired after hearing Billups’ introductory press conference that he flew from Bosnia to Portland to meet his new coach.

“He’s very detailed,” Nassir Little said. “And not just Chauncey, all the coaches. They are very detailed in what they are saying. They don’t let anything slide through the cracks as they are teaching. The way they break things down, from close-outs to footwork, to who goes where on rotations, it’s all so detailed.”

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

The Trail Blazers believe Norman Powell avoided a serious injury to his left knee Saturday night, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Powell left the game in the second quarter, but the results from initial tests are encouraging, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link). Powell will undergo an MRI, according to Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian.
Veteran guard Patrick Beverley has been impressed by the willingness to accept instruction he sees from his new Timberwolves teammate Anthony Edwards, per Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. “A lot of young guys, especially No. 1 picks — that’s no discredit of course to anybody — guys think they’ve got it figured out already …” Beverley said. “He’s always wide-eyed, bushy tailed and eager to learn. He’s like a sponge. He soaks up everything.”
Injuries limited Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to 35 games last season and he’s still adjusting to being back on a full-time schedule, notes Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. “I think it only makes it harder the longer you go without playing,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “With that being said, it’s no excuse. Guys in the NBA do it all the time. I just gotta figure it out.”

Northwest Notes: Bol Bol, Krejci, Powell

October 2nd, 2021 at 11:59am CST by Dana Gauruder

Bol Bol has only appeared in 39 regular-season games since entering the league in 2019 as a second-round pick. The Nuggets center appears poised for a bigger role in his third season, as Mike Singer of the Denver Post details. The son of Manute Bol has made a strong impression during camp.

“I think Bol Bol’s had a really good camp and a consistent camp,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “When people ask me about Bol, it’s never about is he talented enough. It’s about, is he willing to do the little things and be consistent with his effort … After three, four days, whatever it’s been, I think Bol’s effort has been really good.”

We have more from the Northwest Division:

Thunder point guard Vit Krejci has suffered a “slight setback” in his rehab from an ACL injury, Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman tweets. The draft-and-stash prospect signed a multi-year contract early last month. He’s expected to spend the bulk of the season in the G League once he’s ready to play.
Norman Powell was shipped by the Raptors to the Trail Blazers at the trade deadline last season. After re-signing with Portland, he’s looking forward to spending a full training camp and season building chemistry with his teammates, Casey Holdahl of the team’s website writes. “Totally different. I feel really a part of the team, a part of the organization,” Powell said. “It’s starting to feel natural and normal to me, just getting into a routine, knowing exactly where I need to be. It’s definitely going to still take some time but it’s definitely a process that’s speeding up day by day.” Powell signed a five-year, $90MM contract in August.
In case you missed it, Jazz surprisingly released two-way player Justin James on Friday after signing him last week. Get the details here.

Northwest Notes: Morris, MPJ, Powell, Beverley

October 1st, 2021 at 12:42pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets haven’t made it official yet, but it certainly appears that Monte Morris is on track to claim a spot in the team’s starting lineup while Jamal Murray recovers from ACL surgery. As Mike Singer of The Denver Post writes, head coach Michael Malone said this week that he’s “extremely confident” in Morris’ ability and wants the 26-year-old point guard to get comfortable running the first-team offense.

“It’s just a matter of (Morris) playing with aggression and confidence, playing with that attack mindset and being more vocal on the floor to run his team,” Malone said. “And that’s not easy, especially when you’re playing with the reigning MVP. And I tell him sometimes, ‘Hey, tell Nikola (Jokic) where you want him.’ I say, ‘That’s your job as a point guard,’ and I think he’s embracing that.”

There’s no set timeline for Murray’s return, and it seems unlikely that we’ll see him back on the court until at least the spring, so assuming Morris is named the Nuggets’ starting point guard, it’s a job he could hang onto all season.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Instagram video) provides some more details on how Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. can bump the $12MM partial guarantee on the fifth year of his new contract extension to a full $39.3MM guarantee. Porter could get that full guarantee if he earns two All-Stars berths or a single All-NBA or All-Defense nod before then. He’d also get the full fifth-year amount if Denver wins a title and he meets certain games-played thresholds during that season.
After initially arriving in Portland with less than two months left in the 2021/22 season, Norman Powell said this week that life with the Trail Blazers is “starting to feel natural and normal to me,” per Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. Like some of his teammates, Powell is excited about how new head coach Chauncey Billups plans to use him. “It’s only the first two days but I’m definitely feeling included on the offensive side of the ball,” Powell said.
New Timberwolves guard Patrick Beverley said on Thursday that when he and the Clippers couldn’t agree on an extension this summer, the team asked him where else he might like to play and he put Minnesota “in my top three, my top two I believe” (link via Chris Hine of The Star Tribune). While it’s a little hard to believe Beverley was so bullish on the idea of joining a small-market team that has made the postseason just once since 2004, he expressed enthusiasm this week about being a mentor to the Wolves’ young guards and bringing some “intensity” to the team.

How Players Who Declined Options Fared In Free Agency

September 7th, 2021 at 12:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Of the 16 veterans who had player options on their contracts for the 2021/22 season, seven picked up those options, forgoing free agency for another year of security. However, that leaves nine players who opted out and reached the free agent market.

For some players, that decision was an easy one. For instance, Norman Powell was long believed to be in line for a multiyear deal in the range of $15-20MM per year, so exercising his $11.6MM player option never would’ve made any sense.

The decision wasn’t so easy for every player who opted out though. Now that we’re five weeks into free agency, we want to look back on those decisions to see if they paid off for the nine players who opted out.

Let’s dive in…

The biggest wins:

Kawhi Leonard
- Option: $36,016,200 (Clippers)
- New contract: Four years, $176,265,152 (Clippers)
Norman Powell
- Option: $11,615,328 (Trail Blazers)
- New contract: Five years, $90,000,000 (Trail Blazers)
Spencer Dinwiddie
- Option: $12,302,496 (Nets)
- New contract: Three years, $54,000,000 (Wizards)
  - Note: Deal includes $8MM in incentives; third year partially guaranteed.

Leonard, Powell, and Dinwiddie all secured raises for the 2021/22 season and increased their overall guarantees exponentially. Leonard tacked on an extra $140MM in guaranteed money, while Powell’s new overall guarantee is nearly eight times more than his option salary.

Dinwiddie’s new contract isn’t quite as favorable as the other two, but it’s still a major win for a player who missed nearly the entire 2020/21 season due to an ACL tear. Even in a worst-case scenario, Dinwiddie will earn $45MM in guaranteed money. He can ensure his third-year salary becomes fully guaranteed by appearing in at least 50 games in each of the next two seasons, and he has the ability to earn even more in incentives.

A solid win:

Chris Paul
- Option: $44,211,146 (Suns)
- New contract: Four years, $120,000,000 (Suns)
  - Note: Deal includes $75MM in guaranteed money. Third year is partially guaranteed; fourth year is non-guaranteed.

If you want to move Paul to the “biggest wins” group, I wouldn’t argue with that. After all, he increased his overall guarantee by more than $30MM, which is no small feat for a player hitting free agency at age 36.

I’m separating him into his own group because his 2021/22 salary was reduced by more than $13MM as part of his new deal, and I think it’s possible he could’ve gotten more than $30MM in guaranteed money on his next deal if he had simply picked up his option and hit free agency next year.

I certainly don’t blame him for going this route though, given his injury history. And if he continues to play at a high level, the Suns will probably want to keep him for the third year of the deal, which would increase his overall guarantee on this contract to $90MM.

Minor wins:

Will Barton
- Option: $14,669,642 (Nuggets)
- New contract: Two years, $30,000,000 (Nuggets)
  - Note: Deal includes $2MM in incentives.
JaMychal Green
- Option: $7,559,748 (Nuggets)
- New contract: Two years, $16,400,000 (Nuggets)
  - Note: Deal includes $400K in incentives.
Bobby Portis
- Option: $3,804,150 (Bucks)
- New contract: Two years, $8,912,580 (Bucks)
Bryn Forbes
- Option: $2,454,002 (Bucks)
- New contract: One year, $4,500,000 (Spurs)

The Nuggets took a similar approach to their negotiations with Barton and Green — Denver gave each player a small raise this year, plus a second guaranteed season (Green’s second year is a player option).

The Bucks went that route with Portis too, giving him the biggest raise they could offer using his Non-Bird rights and including a second-year player option on his new deal.

You could make a case that Forbes is a big winner for nearly doubling his 2021/22 salary, but without any future years tacked onto that deal (and given the relatively small salaries involved), I’m classifying it as a modest victory.

The jury’s still out:

Isaiah Hartenstein
- Option: $1,762,796 (Cavaliers)
- New contract: TBD

Hartenstein is the only one of these nine players who remains unsigned. Based on his solid play with the Cavs down the stretch, turning down his minimum-salary player option seemed like a reasonable bet at the time, but it now looks like he might’ve been better off taking the guaranteed money.

While he’ll probably be signed at some point in the coming weeks, Hartenstein isn’t a lock for a fully guaranteed deal. And even if he gets a guaranteed one-year, minimum-salary contract, it’ll be worth slightly less ($1,729,217) than the option he declined, due to the league’s minimum-salary rules.

Blazers Notes: Powell, Lillard, McCollum, Nurkic

August 26th, 2021 at 9:42am CST by Luke Adams

Examining the Trail Blazers‘ plans going forward, Dan Devine of The Ringer suggests there are a few reasons for optimism in Portland. The team’s late-season addition of Norman Powell made an already strong offense even more potent, and the Blazers re-signed Powell to a long-term deal this summer. New head coach Chauncey Billups could also make an immediate impact and push the club harder on the defensive end, where improvement is necessary.

Still, Devine acknowledges that the Blazers didn’t exactly swing for the fences with their offseason moves, noting that there are a a lot of caveats and “maybes” in play when discussing their potential upside.

Here’s more out of Portland:

Asked during an Instagram Live appearance whether he intends to leave Portland, Lillard replied, I’m not leaving PDX. Not right now at least” (video link via Landon Buford). Those who believe Lillard wants to stay will likely focus on his assertion that he’s not going anywhere, while those who think he wants out will probably zero in on the “not right now” portion of his response. I wouldn’t read too much into it either way — it sounds like Lillard was supplying a fairly generic answer while leaving all his options open for the future.
Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report spoke to new NBPA president CJ McCollum about whether he believes the Blazers are capable of winning a title, teams’ free agency spending, and a handful of other topics. “I think whenever we step on the court, we have a chance to win a championship. If you don’t have that mindset and that mentality, then you shouldn’t play,” McCollum said of the Blazers. “… I feel like every year we have a chance to win a championship. But in the NBA, there’s so many things that go into that. You need a little bit of luck.”
In the latest HoopsHype podcast, Michael Scotto and Yossi Gozzlan discussed the Blazers’ offseason, with Scotto noting that president of basketball operations Neil Olshey is going “all-in” on Billups and will either “sink or swim” with that head coaching hire. Scotto also suggested that McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic need to step up and play some of their best basketball in 2021/22 to give Portland a chance to contend.

Blazers Sign Norman Powell To Five-Year Deal

August 6th, 2021 at 5:23pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

AUGUST 6: Powell has officially signed the contract, according to a team press release.

“Re-signing Norm was a priority this offseason and we are pleased that he chose to make a long-term commitment to Portland,” president of basketball operations Neil Olshey said. “We look forward to him building off his career year and are confident he will play an integral role in the future success of our franchise.”

AUGUST 2: The Trail Blazers have struck a deal with their top free agent, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), who hears from agent Thaddeus Foucher that Norman Powell has agreed to a five-year, $90MM contract to remain in Portland.

Ahead of the 2021 free agency period, Powell decided to not exercise his $11.6MM player option for the 2021/22 season, confident (and rightfully so) that, as one of the best wings on the free agent market, he was in line for a major raise.

Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports adds (via Twitter) that the fully-guaranteed deal has no player options for the conclusion of the contract.

Powell was selected by the Raptors with the No. 46 pick out of UCLA in the 2015 draft. He won a title with the team in 2019. After spending his entire career in Toronto, the 6’3″ swingman was shipped to Portland in a deadline deal during the 2020/21 season.

With both clubs, Powell averaged 18.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 1.9 APG, and 1.2 SPG across 32.0 MPG on the year. Powell, 28, will remain a key contributor as the small forward for the Trail Blazers.

His positional height deficiencies on the wing are not out-of-place in Portland, where he will line up next to the similarly-undersized 6’3″ shooting guard CJ McCollum.

Luke Adams contributed to this report.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.