Portland Trail Blazers: 3 key reasons why Norman Powell will re-sign
By Andy Quach
The Portland Trail Blazers and Norman Powell are a perfect fit
At 27 years old, Norman Powell still has time to further develop his game. That being said, he’s right at the age where his next contract needs to be with a team where he can be a meaningful contributor towards a championship, if he means to add to his legacy.
The Trail Blazers fit right into his timeline. Portland’s two stars, Dame and CJ McCollum, are 30 and 29 years old. They’re both right in the middle of their primes, with plenty of experience together competing deep into the postseason, and will continue to dominate until the end of Powell’s next contract.
Alongside the Blazers star backcourt and Norm, they also have versatile center Jusuf Nurkic and 3-and-D wing Robert Covington signed through next season. They’ll also have additional time to evaluate their young core with Anfernee Simons and Nassir Little’s contracts guaranteed for next season and Derrick Jones Jr. more than likely to pick up his $9 million player option.
With a completely healthy squad, a full season with Norm in tow, and a relatively normal schedule (probably) next year, the Blazers should be able to return to a top-4 seed in the West.
Further in the future, the Blazers own all of their first-round picks after this upcoming draft, giving them plenty of ammunition to either add young contributors or make trades to upgrade the roster.
The Blazers and Norm are also a harmonious pairing on the court. Even with Dame, CJ, and Carmelo Anthony on the roster, Powell with the Blazers averaged the same amount of shots this regular season as his full season as a starter with the Raptors.
The trio of Dame, CJ, and Norm was a net positive 160 points in just 23 regular season games together. The Portland starting core with that trio, RoCo, and Nurk was the 4th most effective five-man lineup in the entire NBA.
Norm only had 27 games to build chemistry with his new Blazer teammates and yet they decimated everything in their path. Moving forward, it should be an easy choice for Powell to stay in Portland and build on the solid foundation they’ve already built.