The Celtics already have an offense that’s doing plenty of damage, but the one thing holding it back from another gear is pretty clear: the three-point shot hasn’t been as steady as usual. If that part of the attack starts falling the way Boston expects, the ceiling rises fast. Still, there’s a strong case for adding another reliable scorer anyway, and Norman Powell fits that idea as neatly as anyone.
Jayson Tatum and Paul George have been exactly what Boston needed from them this season. The issue is that Payton Pritchard and Derrick White haven’t consistently given the Celtics the same kind of offensive punch behind them. Both can score, both can help, but neither brings the kind of scoring gravity Powell does.
Powell has built a reputation as a dependable 20-point scorer, and he’s done it for Toronto, Portland, Los Angeles and Miami. His season in Chicago hasn’t been his best, but that doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story about him. The Bulls have been a rough environment, and Powell is still getting close to 20 points a night even with inefficient shooting numbers near 40/31/80.
That’s where Boston enters the picture. Put Powell next to Tatum and George, and there’s a real argument that his efficiency would climb even if his raw scoring dipped.
He doesn’t need to be a top-two option on a contender. As a third scorer, he makes a lot of sense for the Celtics.
Boston’s younger wings also haven’t exactly forced the issue. Some have flashed more than others, including Baylor Scheierman, but the Celtics could clearly use another dependable veteran presence on the perimeter.
There’s also the added wrinkle that landing Powell would be a pretty satisfying shot at Miami after they failed to keep him thanks to the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade.
A deal, though, would not be simple. NBA insider Jake Fischer said on one of his recent live streams that the Bulls will take calls on Powell before the trade deadline, which fits with where Chicago stands as one of the league’s worst teams.
Powell’s contract helps his appeal. He makes a little over $20 million and has a team option, which means Boston could potentially line up a team-friendly arrangement this summer, much like the one many expect with George.
But the money is where things get messy. The Celtics do have the $27.7 million Anfernee Simons TPE, but the tax apron rules would force them to send out salary. Boston has also made it obvious it wants to stay under the luxury tax line, which is why the roster sits at 14 players instead of 15.
That means a Powell trade would likely require combining multiple contracts. Mitchell Robinson is the most obvious name to get that done, but even that comes with risk. And if Boston put him on the table, Chicago could always move him somewhere else or ask for extra assets on top of him.
For now, the Celtics are better off waiting to see exactly what kind of team they have. But if the answer is that they’re one pure scorer away from being back in the title mix, Powell would be a logical fit.
In Other News...
Derrick Whites Slump Is Still Bugging Celtics For One Big Reason
Derrick Whites long-range touch has been one of the quieter concerns around Boston early on, even as the Celtics have kept winning and the offense has stayed productive. His three-point percentage has trended down from 38.4% in recent seasons to 29.3% this year, a dip that stands out because so much of Bostons spacing and ball movement depends on guards and wings who can punish defenses from deep.
There is a reason the Celtics have not been knocked off course by it, though. Whites overall shooting from the field has improved, and Bostons offense remains strong enough to absorb a cold stretch from one of its most important perimeter pieces. The bigger question is what happens if White finds his previous form again, because even a modest rebound there would give an already dangerous attack another layer defenses have to account for. [Read more 🡒]
Paul George Concern Is Already Hanging Over Bostons Biggest Gamble
Bostons blockbuster swap of Jaylen Brown for Paul George brought instant star power, but it also brought the kind of long-view anxiety that tends to follow a veteran wing with mileage on the clock. George has been productive early, giving the Celtics the kind of two-way presence they were clearly chasing, yet the trade has already been framed around a bigger question than his opening weeks: how much can Boston ask of him before the season starts asking back?
That concern is especially pointed because the Celtics did not make this move for October alone. The real test is whether George can still look like himself when the games matter most in the spring, and some around the league are already wondering how carefully Boston will have to manage his workload to get there. For a team that pushed its chips in, the gamble is less about what George can do now than whether he can hold up long enough to make the deal look right when the playoffs arrive. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Have A Fourth Quarter Problem Fans Can't Ignore
The Celtics have done plenty right through eight games to sit at 6-2, but the closing minutes keep undercutting the bigger picture. A team that has built leads early and often has not been nearly as secure when the game tightens up late, with opponents repeatedly finding room to chip away in the fourth quarter and turn comfortable margins into uneasy finishes.
The common thread has been hard to miss for anyone tracking the rotations and the defensive possessions that follow. Bostons late-game issues have shown up most clearly on the perimeter, where opponents have been able to generate the kind of looks that fuel comeback runs, and the lineup combinations used in those stretches are starting to draw scrutiny for whether they are holding up well enough when the legs get heavy. [Read more 🡒]