In a move that has been lauded around the NBA, the Miami Heat were able to acquire a borderline all-star for practically nothing.
The Heat sent 36-year-old Kevin Love, Kyle Anderson and a future pick to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Norman Powell from the Los Angeles Clippers as a part of a three-team trade, which also saw the Jazz ship John Collins to the Clippers.
Coming off a year where the Heat lacked a third option after the Jimmy Butler trade, they are able to plug in Powell who averaged 21.8 points on 48.4% shooting from the field and 41.8% shooting from deep. While most around Miami and the NBA in general approve of the move and think it could elevate the Heat, Gilbert Arenas believes that Powell’s career year was a product of injuries.
The former Washington Wizards star expressed that with two other guys vying for touches in Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo, it’ll be difficult for Powell to replicate what he did in Los Angeles when the Clippers were Kawhi Leonard missed a chunk of time.
“You’re going to Miami where there’s already guys who wants to shoot the ball. So, now it’s fight for the ball,” Arenas said. “…he was averaging 24 because no one else was there, so I’m giving you the ball to have fun. When one person came back, it was like, alright, move around, sit in the corner.
“You’re going to a team where they all are trying to be the star, so it’s gonna be more of a fight over there because they all gonna be playing. Here, in Clippers, you can bank on Kawhi (Leonard) not playing a lot.”
While there may be some growing pains with Powell in the mix, he is used to playing off the ball and his ability to stretch the floor. Something that Butler wasn’t necessarily the best at.
Only time will tell, but Arenas is already out on the Heat’s biggest move of the offseason.
