BURNABY, B.C. — Norm Powell was one of the Toronto Raptors' most impactful players in their 2017 post-season run to the Eastern Conference final. The footage of his steal and thunderous breakaway dunk that sparked a comeback victory in Round 1 versus Indiana is almost legendary.
But Powell found himself grounded last season, the forgotten man in coach Dwane Casey's rotation, his playing time almost slashed in half.
He lost his starting spot to emerging rookie OG Anunoby, and couldn't find any rhythm with the Raptors' "bench mob" that was already playing together like a finely tuned orchestra.
So, the 25-year-old from San Diego went into the off-season intent on making himself a better fit for Toronto.
"Skill-wise I'm up there with the best of them, so it's just trying to find opportunities and being ready to go out there and play and make plays and be impactful," Powell said at training camp.
He spent several weeks of the summer practising with the second unit, plus newcomer Danny Green, who arrived in Toronto a couple of weeks ago after the Raptors acquired him along with star forward Kawhi Leonard in the off-season.
"It was building chemistry with a guy, getting a good rhythm, good flow, playing off each other, being more five-on-five, not worrying too much about individual stuff, but just finding a fit," Powell said. "I thought this summer was really good for me with that."
Powell logged 25.2 minutes a game in the Raptors' thrilling post-season run in 2017, and then embarked on a gruelling summer of training that he hoped to parlay into a bigger role last season. He talked at last year's training camp of days that began at 4 a.m. By noon, he'd already completed three workouts. He also signed a four-year, US$42-million contract extension.
But his hard work failed to pay off, and all the good vibes from the previous spring evaporated. Partly due to injury, and partly because of the solid play of Anunoby, he lost his starting job 13 games into the season, and ended the 2017-18 campaign averaging just 15 minutes and 5.5 points a game.
"I don't think it was a skill thing, I think it was a fit thing, it was just after I got hurt I didn't really fit in with any group, trying to find a rhythm with them. The second already got going (and) had a good rhythm early on, and when I got hurt OG was playing well with the first unit," Powell said. "So coming back from injury those first four or five games that I missed, coming back it was just hard to get a flow, fighting for minutes."
How the athletic Powell fits into new head coach Nick Nurse's plans will be one of the key storylines of the Raptors' early season.
Another new face in camp this season has Powell particularly pleased. Long after the team's first practice wrapped up Tuesday, Powell sat with Leonard quietly talking.
Powell first met Leonard when he was being recruited by San Diego State, and has followed the two-time NBA defensive player of the year closely since then.
"I'm excited to be on the same team as him, I've watched him grow, tried to look after him on the defensive side, tried to take some of the things that he does and incorporate them into my game defensively," Powell said. "So I'm excited to be able to learn from him and have him as a teammate."
With the abundance of excellent two-way players Toronto has this season — himself, Leonard, Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, Serge Ibaka, and Green — Powell believes Toronto could be among the best in the league on the defensive end this season.
"We got a lot of guys who are heavy on defence to know where the ball is and have a great defensive awareness," Powell said. "We're long and athletic and guys that get after it, so I think we have many different looks and lineups that can give teams problems defensively for sure."
Lori Ewing, The Canadian Press
