Former Miami Heat Champion Gives Franchise a Dose of Reality

Norman Powell is the Miami Heat’s marquee addition this summer. The sharpshooting wing impressed for the LA Clippers last season and will likely provide a boost to Erik Spoelstra’s rotation.

Unfortunately for the Heat, former champion Mike Miller doesn’t believe Powell will be enough of a high-level addition to help move the needle. His comments came during a recent episode of the “OG’s Podcast.”

“I love Coach Pat, absolute OG,” Miller said. “Norman Powell, love Norman Powell. Awesome player, like no one talks about him. Maybe because it’s a West Coast thing. We live on the East Coast and we don’t hear enough about Norman Powell.”

Miller’s comments are fair. The Heat came into the offseason seeking to add Kevin Durant to the rotation. However, after Durant was traded to the Houston Rockets, Pat Riley pivoted to add Powell, in what was a three-team deal.

While Powell isn’t the star player the Heat need, he is a reliable veteran who could emerge as a key member of Miami’s offensive system next season. He has all the tools to be a key cog in Spoelstra’s rotation.

Last season, Powell averaged 21.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists on 48.4% shooting from the field and 41.8% shooting from deep.

Powell Pleased to Join the Miami Heat

During an introductory news conference with Heat media on July 9, Powell shared his excitement about sharing the court with Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro.

“I’m really excited,” Powell said. “I was competing against them throughout the years, having the conversations on and off the court with Bam in passing and things like that. I like what they’re building…They compete every single night. No matter who’s healthy, who’s in or out of the lineup. They’re scrappy, they’re gritty and they’re competitive.”

Powell continued.

“…They’re very versatile, too. Bam can play multiple positions, can attack multitude of ways, defensively, can switch, can defend different positions, protect the rim, really athletic. Tyler Herro, he’s great off the ball, on the ball, scoring, facilitating. I think he did a great job this year getting assists, getting his teammates involved, and figuring out when to score, when to be aggressive.”

While Powell won’t be forming a “Big 3” with his new teammates, his skill set will perfectly accentuate the talent around him. Furthermore, his presence will act as an upgrade over Duncan Robinson, who signed with the Detroit Pistons earlier this summer.

Heat Could be Done Making Trades

In a recent episode of the “Zaslow Show 2.0” NBA cap expert Bobby Marks explained why he doesn’t expect Miami to make another trade ahead of the new season.

“I mean, listen, we’re going to see probably within the next couple of days, Beal become available in free agency,” Marks said. “I think the Norman Powell move eliminates that, as far as what they need. They’re a little bit below the first apron, so they can go out and sign a minimum guy if they want to do that. But I’m not anticipating another big move.”

The Heat will have some additional room to operate next summer. The Heat could treat the 2025-26 season as a gap year, then make moves next summer to get the roster back to championship contention.

Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.

This article was originally published on Heavy Sports

The post Former Miami Heat Champion Gives Franchise a Dose of Reality appeared first on Heavy Sports.