Clippers' Absurd Norman Powell Trade Looks Even Worse Now

The Los Angeles Clippers' mind-boggling decision to trade Norman Powell in the offseason looks worse after his hot start to the season.

Nov 3, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer (left) shakes hands with Miami Heat guard Norman Powell (24) at the end of the game at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Clippers are off to an extremely disappointing start to the season, having lost eight of their last nine games. Falling to 4-10 for the season after losing to the Sixers on Monday, the Clippers are in a dire situation. One of the main reasons for it is their mind-boggling decision to trade Norman Powell in the offseason.

After being one of the best sixth men in the league for two seasons with the Clippers, Powell became LA's starting shooting guard last season. He stepped up to the occasion and had the best season of his career in his age-31 campaign, finishing with 21.8 points on 48.4/41/8/80.4 shooting splits. Having a 26.1% usage rate and a 61.5% True Shooting while possessing the ability to play both on and off the ball made Powell a uniquely good fit next to James Harden and Kawhi Leonard.

That's why it was so shocking to see the Clippers moving on from him over the summer. More confusing than the decision to trade him was how little the Clippers accepted in return for him. They only took John Collins back in the three-team trade without getting back any draft capital. Lawrence Frank said that they had been targeting Collins for years after executing the deal. The Clippers then filled Powell's absence by signing Bradley Beal, somehow thinking that this would be an upgrade.

This highlights the complete misevaluation by the Clippers' front office, and this has been made more evident after the first month of the 2025-26 season.

Clippers Regret Their Disastrous Norman Powell Trade

Beal was a disaster when he was on the court before getting ruled out for the season. Collins has been fine, scoring 11.9 points at league-average efficiency (58% True Shooting) and grabbing 4.8 rebounds in 25.4 minutes per game. The 28-year-old power forward has mostly been an average rotation player on both ends of the floor.

Powell, on the other hand, has carried his momentum from a season ago and has been on a heater. He is currently in the midst of his career season, increasing his usage rate to 28.4% and True Shooting to 64.6%, both career highs. In 11 games with the Heat, he is averaging 25.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 31.4 minutes per game, and has been one of the main reasons for Miami's surprise 8-6 start. With Powell on the court, the Heat are one of the best teams in the league, with a +7.5 net rating. Without him, they are merely a -0.3 net rating team.

Imagine if the Clippers still had Powell on the roster. We would be looking at a completely different team, especially offensively. The Clippers are bereft of any shooting guard depth and quality, as well as offensive talent outside of James Harden during Leonard's absence. The decision to let Powell go for so little didn't make sense at the time, and it looks even worse after a month of the regular season.