ESPN Analyst Says Norman Powell Signing Benefits This Miami Heat Player The Most

Mar 28, 2025; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Norman Powell (24) controls the ball against the Brooklyn Nets during the second quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

After passing on the cheapest Kevin Durant offer a team will ever get, the Miami Heat caused many to doubt if they were finally taking a tanking direction for the upcoming season.

Their acquisition of Norman Powell effectively shut down the tanking rumors, as he is significantly younger than Durant and was nearly an All-Star last season. On the All NBA Podcast, Tim Legler broke down how Powell can immediately improve the Heat’s offense and help Herro with scoring.

“Relative to what they just gave up, which was basically nothing, to bring in a guy who had the best year of his career,” Legler explained. “When you look at Miami offensively, they had virtually nobody outside of Tyler Herro that you could give the ball to in a high ball-screen to create anything. Bam Adebayo could create a little bit, but not like that.”

Last season, Powell averaged 21.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists on 48.4 percent shooting and 41.8 percent from three-point range. While he may not be the pass-first playmaker their roster still lacks, Legler explains how Powell will be able to take pressure off Herro. The Heat will have two elite shot creators, and defenses will have to pick their poison for which scorer they would rather focus on more than the other.

“But I’m talking about a guy out on the perimeter causes communication issues for defenses,” Legler continues. “Causes blitzes, causes all kinds of things that have to take place because he can pull from anywhere. They had one guy who was able to do that in Tyler Herro. Now they have gone out and added another guy in that vein.”

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