MIAMI — The list of Miami Heat one-year wonders is an eclectic lot, players who left by choice, were traded, or simply fizzed out.
At no point over the first half of this just-completed season did Norman Powell appear headed for that latter category.
Now, he well may be on his way to such a fate, joining a list of those who arrived to the Heat, had their star turn, and then were gone after a season of Heat service, players such as Anthony Mason, Lamar Odom, Jae Crowder and Damon Jones.
Based on how it started, with Powell leading the way amid Tyler Herro’s early-season absence, and based on the way it continued, with Powell, at 32, in February making his All-Star Game debut as the Heat’s lone representative, a return engagement was viewed as a given at midseason, the question only about the timing of the extension amid a window that stood open all season and remains open through June 30.
Now, it appears it will be off to free agency, with Tuesday night’s season-ending play-in loss to the Charlotte Hornets a seeming final gut punch, Powell utilized for only 19:20 in an overtime game that went 53 minutes.
“I’m going to have to talk to my agent and see what’s going on,” Powell said ahead of the Heat cleaning out their lockers Thursday at Kaseya Center.
“I’ve enjoyed my time here, my family’s enjoyed the time here. I’ve had great relationships with the staff and people in the organization. So if it makes sense and if everything’s right, and they’re able to have a mutual interest, I think it’ll be good. But as a free agent, I’ve been here before, so you just have to look at what the best option is for you and your family and make a decision off that.”
Once Herro returned to better health, it was as if the decision was made, with Herro starting, Powell playing off the bench, including Tuesday night’s season-ending loss.
Eligible for a four-year, $128.5 million extension, one starting at $28.7 million for next season, such a number seemed a value play through the early months of the season.
And then injuries and absences changed the calculus, with Powell missing 24 games, for the second consecutive year missing extended time following the All-Star break, which also was the case last season amid a closing fizzle with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Asked if there was a disappointment along the way in not being able to do a deal amid his season-long extension window, Powell turned diplomatic.
“I said, even in the beginning and throughout when I became eligible, that’s out of my control,” he said. “I can’t force them to. I can just go out there and play the best brand of basketball that I can and there’s other decisions than me.”
That included a Heat bid to recast at midseason, with a trade proposal for Giannis Antetokounmpo, who ultimately was retained by the Milwaukee Bucks.
“We know what they tried to do at the deadline, we know the rumors and things like that,” Powell said of Heat management. “So I think as somebody that’s been around the league, a veteran and been in a lot of different stuff and very smart business-wise and understanding how teams operate and move and think in the future and not just in the moment, I wasn’t really worried about getting an extension or not. I was just worried about playing.”
Now the question of whether there will be a payoff, putting Powell in an all-too-familiar position. Last summer, Powell had been under the understanding that an extension to remain with the Clippers was to be completed after summer league. Instead he was dealt to the Heat.
Now, another waiting game, with the Heat at a crossroads after a fourth consecutive play-in season and first year out of the playoffs since 2019.
“They have to make decisions and things based on the team and where they want to be and what they want to do next year,” Powell said. “Hopefully, I’m a part of the plan. And if I am, great.”
At this point, it figures to be a delicate dance. With limited offseason cap space around the league, Powell might need to work with the Heat on a sign-and-trade deal if he is nudged aside or chooses to move on elsewhere.
Or, the Heat could wind up potentially including Herro in a blockbuster — potentially in play again for Antetokounmpo — which could have the Heat working on a Powell return.
At the outset, it appeared to be a marriage that would endure, unlike previous Heat one-year romances.
Now, it is a player at a point of little clarity.
“So we’ll just see where they’re at, where my agent is at, and what’s going on in free agency,” Powell said, sounding very aware of the possibility of Heat one and done.