Toronto Raptors: Norman Powell Is The X-Factor

Coming into his sophomore season, Norman Powell is in position to make a big difference for the Toronto Raptors.

This summer has not been one with many dramatic shakeups for the Toronto Raptors. Luis Scola has been replaced with Jared Sullinger, DeMar DeRozan re-signed with the team and Bismack Biyombo‘s departure will be covered by a platoon of Jakob Poeltl, Pascal Siakim and Lucas Nogueira.

With the success of last season, it’s reasonable for Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri to feel hesitant when it comes to making a major move or shakeup. They inquired on players like Thad Young and Serge Ibaka, but ultimately ruled against pulling the trigger due to the cost.

With that being said, the Toronto Raptors will need internal growth in order to continue moving forward in their journey of becoming a legitimate contender for an NBA championship.

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The obvious candidates for such growth would be players like Jonas Valanciunas, who was arguably the best player on the team in the playoffs before he went down with an injury. DeRozan is another easy player to identify, given his consistent growth throughout his career.

But those players already have a significant impact on the team, the one player that could be the biggest X-factor for the Raptors next season is Norman Powell.

Powell impressed as a rookie, most notably filling in for the Raptors big summer acquisition DeMarre Carroll as he was dealing with various injuries. He showed himself to be a capable defender for a rookie and his Per 36 Minutes numbers of 13.6 points and 5.5 rebounds on 42.4 percent shooting from the floor and 40.4 percent from three were also very solid.

Assuming Carroll stays healthy, a wing rotation of Kyle Lowry, DeRozan, Carroll with Cory Joseph and Powell playing meaningful minutes off the bench provides the Raptors with an opportunity to have a strong rotation, as well as shop Terrence Ross in an effort to fill other holes in the roster.

While Ross still possesses upside and has a reasonable contract with the jump in the salary cap, he has struggled at times accepting his role and dedicating himself on the defensive side of the floor. Powell, on the other hand, has shown a lot of potential on defense and if his three-point shooting holds true, he can be a valuable “3-and-D” player that helps alleviate pressure from the starters.

The other value of a Powell emergence would be that it gives the Raptors the ability to play small for stretches of the game. Carroll is more than capable of playing significant minutes at the 4 and may be tasked with doing so going up against teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers, who went small multiple times in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals.

Being able to play Powell on the wing with DeRozan and Carroll functioning as a small-ball 4 allows the Raptors to address their weakness of power forward, given the absence of a big-name free agent acquisition at that position.

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Lineup versatility is so key in today’s NBA, and while Powell will likely never blossom into an All-Star or be a cornerstone piece of the franchise, he could become a high level role player that makes a difference in a playoff series. For those reasons, Powell very well could end up being the X-factor next season for Toronto.