Zombie Norman Powell embraces Portland’s ‘vibe’ and helping elevate team to contender status

Trail Blazers’ Norman Powell embraces Portland’s ‘vibe’ and helping elevate team to contender status: ‘We’re not far off from winning a championship’

Norman Powell likes to keep things simple in his life. Give the Portland Trail Blazers guard/forward a quiet, serene setting in nature with his two Pomsky dogs and he is at peace.

Although it has been difficult historically for the Blazers to attract marquee free agents, in part because many want to live in larger cities, remaining in Portland was an easy sell for Powell.

An unrestricted free agent this offseason with options, Powell reached a deal with the Blazers early into the negotiating period, signing for $90 million over five seasons.

Powell isn’t one who relishes the allure of going out often and bumping elbows with celebrities. He said he enjoyed his younger years in Toronto being on the scene. But deep down he is a homebody who spends most of his time frolicking with Apollo and Odin (his dogs have their own Instagram page), playing video games or working on his basketball skills. He also enjoys the outdoors, an attractive aspect of the Pacific Northwest that Powell plans to take advantage of now that he is set up here for the long term.

“I like the feel of Portland,” Powell said from his home in Las Vegas. “It fits my vibe. Relaxed. Chill. The nature element is really nice. I’m excited to actually be there and be able to get settled in fully and actually be able to explore and see what’s really around there.”

The Blazers entered free agency with limited options in free agency because they were over the cap (112.4 million). That made re-signing Powell, 28, even more imperative because the team could further exceed the cap to retain him. Because he was in the lineup when the season ended with a 4-2 loss to Denver, many fans have treated his signing as of little consequence. But the Blazers don’t see it that way.

The franchise believes that having Powell, whom they acquired in a trade-deadline deal in March, for an entire season and adding new coach Chauncey Billups could make the Blazers a threat in the Western Conference.

EXPLORING FREE AGENCY

After the Blazers’ playoff exit, Powell went to teammates and Blazers staff to thank them for how well they had treated him and let them know that they had made a great impression. He wasn’t exactly saying goodbye, but just in case he didn’t return, Powell wanted to let the organization know he had enjoyed his time there as he prepared to explore free agency.

Powell opted out of a deal that would have paid him $11.6 million next season to become an unrestricted free agent. While trading for him, the Blazers made it clear to Powell that they planned to re-sign him and rolled out the red carpet with a starting job and promises to make him an important building block for the future.

Primarily a backup in Toronto until last season, Powell spent one night in a Portland-area hotel when he arrived before moving into a completely furnished house in Lake Oswego where former Blazers forward Kent Bazemore lived during his short time with the team during the 2019-20 season. The backyard backed up to a lake, a nice touch that Powell appreciated.

Powell said he instantly felt warmth and acceptance from the Blazers. He recognized that they had given up a key piece in Gary Trent Jr., a second-round pick in 2018 who had developed into an impact player, in order to acquire him and did so with the risk of coming away with nothing had he departed.


Trail Blazers forward Norman Powell with his Pomsky dogs. That's Odin on the left and Apollo on the right.


Feeling wanted and appreciated is important to Powell, more so than the money, which he knew would be there wherever he signed.

“I’ve said it before, players want to go where they’re loved and I’ve felt the love in Portland since day one,” Powell said. “I’m somebody that wants to be appreciated for the talent that I bring to the table.”

Tossing some love his way during the weeks leading up to the free agency period were fans, Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Powell said he appreciated all of the messages fans sent urging him to stay in Portland. But maybe the most important message came from Lillard, who texted him to say how much he wanted him back and kept in touch during the process.

“I told him just hearing that from him, coming from the franchise player, not even just a franchise player, but a generational talent, a superstar that wants to win ... when he sends you a text saying that he wants you on his team to help accomplish the goals that he set up, that’s him saying that he sees value in what I bring to the table,” Powell said. “And I told him that hearing that from him goes a long ways for me.”

McCollum also reached out the day before free agency and similarly expressed his desire to see Powell return.

Still, Powell, a second-round pick in 2015 out of UCLA who spent time in the G League as a rookie, said he needed to at least see what else was out there.

“I took free agency with an open mind,” Powell said. “It was my first time really going through the process.”

Powell said he had talks with Miami and Dallas. But ultimately he made a pretty quick decision to return to Portland, agreeing to a deal the first day of free agency.

“Ultimately, we were able to come to an agreement on a deal and I think this is the best fit for me,” Powell said.

And he signed with big expectations.

“When you look at how the season ended and where we’re at now with the new coach and new coaching staff and everything that’s left on the table, where we can grow and build,” Powell said. “There’s already a solid foundation. They have the longest playoff streak in in the NBA right now. So, we’re not far off from winning a championship. It’s just changing a few things.”

A change that could derail any and all of those plans would be losing Lillard. He has indicated that he could at some point seek a trade if he believes the Blazers can’t build a contending team around him. But Powell said he signed with Portland expecting Lillard, who recruited him, to be around.

Powell said that he loves Lillard’s work ethic and commitment to winning and wants to help him and the team reach their goals.

“I signed back with the full intention of the squad coming back together and figuring it out and making another push,” Powell said.

FITTING IN

Powell’s offensive numbers dipped with Portland. During 42 games in Toronto, he scored 19.6 points per game while shooting 49.8% from the field and 43.9% on threes. In 27 games with Portland, Powell averaged 17 points per game on 44.3% shooting and 36.1% on threes.


Trail Blazers wing Norman Powell (#24) pushes the ball up the court as the Portland Trail Blazers face the Denver Nuggets at Moda Center in the final game of the regular season on Sunday, May 16, 2021.Sean Meagher/The Oregonian

On one hand, the points per game slippage should have been expected given that the Blazers feature Lillard and McCollum as their primary scorers. However, Powell could have maintained a near 20-point scoring average had he shot as well in Portland (13 attempts per game) as he did in Toronto (13.5 attempts per game).

Powell said he adjusted well to his new teammates but never quite felt comfortable with his role within the system, and that led to uncertainty.

“I was in Toronto for five and a half years, so I knew exactly where all of my shots were coming from,” Powell said. “Sometimes I think I got lost in the mix of what the Blazers do normally. I think that’s pretty normal when you’re the new guy fitting in.”

Moving forward, Powell will be in on the plans from the ground floor under Billups. Powell said the two had good talks in Las Vegas prior to the free agency period about how the new Blazers coach envisioned using Powell.

Billups said he made a hard push to persuade Powell to stay, telling him that his presence would be imperative to the Blazers improving on last season. Billups said he values Powell’s skillset and approached his talks with him as if last season didn’t happen, because he wasn’t there.

“Our talks were all about what we can do with him, not about what happened before,” Billups said. “Because that didn’t have anything to do with me. But what I’ve seen and what I envision going forward.”

OFFENSIVE SHIFT

Billups’ goal is to get the Blazers to take fewer contested threes by working the ball around more and attacking the basket. Powell said he didn’t receive many chances to display his skills in that area, but expects to have more opportunities under Billups to showcase his quickness, speed, athleticism and finishing abilities.

Powell sees himself as a player who can break down defenses to create shots for himself and teammates when defenders collapse on him. Portland’s offense ranked fourth in offensive rating last year but did not perform well in assists (last), paint touches or generating wide-open threes.

“Dame and CJ draw so much attention, having another person that can really create off the dribble, get down in the paint, make defenses rotate, have (Lillard and McCollum) play on the second side, not always have to be so ball-dominant and making plays for others,” Powell said.

Adding that wrinkle, Powell said, will make defenses work harder and ultimately lead to better shots for everyone, including Lillard and McCollum.

“They’ve been able to carry the load, which is what makes them one of the best dynamic duo backcourts the league has seen in a very long time,” Powell said. “But to really utilize everybody’s talents, to take our team to the next level, I think Chauncey sees areas where the team can grow, especially on the offensive end, and of course, defensively.”

DEFENSIVE MINDSET

The Blazers believe that the starting lineup of Lillard, McCollum, Powell, center Jusuf Nurkic and forward Robert Covington will make a huge leap during a full season together. Over the final two months of last season, that lineup ranked fourth in net rating (plus-13.3) after finishing fourth in defensive rating (104.1) and 13th in offensive rating (117.4). For the season, the Blazers finished 29th in defensive rating (116.6).

For the positive trend with that lineup to continue, the defense must evolve away from the unit that Powell said teams around the league didn’t respect.

“When we were going to play against the Blazers when I was in Toronto, we were more focused on how we would stop them than trying to figure out how we were going to score,” Powell said.

When Powell arrived in Portland, he discovered that defense simply wasn’t a focal point, while the offense carried the show. But without playing at least solidly on defense, the Blazers will have virtually no shot at winning a championship.

“I’m not much of a numbers guy, but analytically, it’s been talked about how much room for improvement we can have on the defensive end,” Powell said. “Chauncey definitely sees that. He’s talked about the different ways we’re going to play and the accountability that he’s going to have from everybody that steps on the floor. Not just a few guys who are known as defensive players, but everybody.”

Powell will be a big part of that plan and establishing accountability. He is a defensive-minded guard who in 2019 won a championship in Toronto with a team that ranked third in defensive rating. Powell’s leadership on defense should carry great clout, given that he will draw arguably the toughest assignment every night as a 6-foot-3 guard matched up against small forwards.

It’s a familiar role, one he embraced in Toronto, although mostly as a backup.

“I like the physicality,” he said. “I’m a guy that takes on the challenge.”

He attacks the assignment with a chip on his shoulder and a determination to prove he can defend anyone.

“I battle with them,” he said. “I don’t back down. I don’t give any ground. I don’t care who you are. You’re going to earn it. Even if you score 30 that night, you’re going to know that every single possession I was in your face trying to make it as difficult as possible for you.”

Powell might not be the superstar addition many had hoped Portland would obtain to play alongside with Lillard. But Powell brings versatility as a scorer, a grit on defense and a champion’s mentality to the team that shouldn’t be overlooked. And he is eager to help Portland right the wrongs from last season.

“I know we lost and we let one slip away,” Powell said. “And I think everybody’s feeling that and is upset about that and on edge. Because the way the playoffs played out this year with the few injuries with other teams, we had a real chance to be able to make a run in the postseason. So, I think everybody sees that and knows that and is really on board to really make a change and make a push to get this done.”

-- Aaron Fentress

https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/...-not-far-off-from-winning-a-championship.html

 

I saw that too, thought it was funny. I would venture a safe bet that the "feel" of Portland isn't remotely like the "feel" of Las Vegas.

Not saying he's full of it/spinning things, but just funny.

 

So, how is life in Anacortes? Has anyone recognized you?