The Los Angeles Clippers have been one of the most talked-about teams in the NBA over the last month or so, but for all the wrong reasons. The organization and owner Steve Ballmer are facing allegations that they circumvented the league’s salary cap by hooking star forward Kawhi Leonard up with millions through a “no-show job” with a now-bankrupt company called Aspiration.
Miami Heat guard Norman Powell played for the Clippers last season and enjoyed something of a breakout season with them, though he’s glad he doesn’t have to deal with the drama that’s hanging over them now. He got traded from the Clippers to the Heat in the offseason.
“I know a lot of people have said, ‘Oh, you got traded. Now you don’t have to deal with everything that just came out,’” Powell told Andscape. “Yeah, it’s a tough situation over there for them. But I am glad that I don’t have to deal with it. I have had reporters and stuff try to reach out and talk to me. But I just told them, ‘That’s not my situation and I don’t really have a comment on that.’ I’m just focused on what’s in front of me and the opportunity that I have being here with the Heat.”
Los Angeles dealt Powell to Miami in a three-team trade after he averaged a career-high 21.8 points per game for a 50-win Clippers team in the 2024-25 campaign. In return, the Clippers received someone who projects to be their starting power forward in the coming campaign in John Collins.
Powell was the biggest offseason loss for a Clippers team that made a whole lot of shrewd moves to improve on paper. Along with Collins, it added center Brook Lopez as well as guards Chris Paul and Bradley Beal to the fold.
However, the Leonard situation has diverted a lot of people from all the additions the Clippers made this offseason, and Powell fortunately won’t have to worry about that being such a distraction now that he plays for a different team.
Instead, Powell can focus first and foremost on helping the Heat win games in his maiden season with them. Miami will look to qualify for the playoffs for a seventh year in a row in 2026.
Another strong scoring season from Powell would go a long way toward helping the Heat keep that playoff streak alive, especially in the early part of the campaign when guard Tyler Herro will be sidelined. Herro underwent foot surgery pretty recently after he was an offensive focal point for Miami last season.