Why the Miami Heat Won the Norman Powell / John Collins Trade—and Why the Los Angeles Clippers Didn't
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In the 2024-25 NBA season, sharpshooting veteran Norman Powell had a career year with the Los Angeles Clippers.
In the 2024-25 NBA season, Utah Jazz hard-hat-and-lunch-pail forward John Collins was injured and on the trading block.
All of which is why today’s three-team trade between the Clips, the Jazz, and the Miami Heat was, on one hand, weird, and, on another hand, inevitable.
BREAKING: The Clippers, Jazz and Heat have agreed to a trade that sends Norman Powell to Miami, John Collins to Los Angeles, and Kevin Love, Kyle Anderson and a 2027 Clippers second-round pick to the Jazz, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/o0FkV0o2l8
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 7, 2025
All of which begs the questions, who won the deal, who got hosed, and which player will help fantasy hoops owners?
Winner: Norman Powell
Last season, the tenth-year man out of UCLA came into his own. In his age-31 season, the 6’4”, 215-pounder posted career highs in points (21.8), three-pointers made (179), total points scored (1,306), and minutes (32.6)—and he only played 60 freakin’ games.
If he rolls into the 2025-26 season in good health—and there are no reports suggesting he has any issues—there’s little reason to believe he won’t equal or exceed last year's lofty numbers…especially considering that Miami’s guard rotation consists of Powell, Tyler Herro, Terry Rozier, Davion Mitchell, and, um, that’s it.
Reality Grade: A-
- Herro will be thrilled to have a backcourt mate who can both consistently hit from distance and make some periodic noise in the paint. Powell (almost) fills the offensive hole into which Miami dug themselves with the Jimmy Butler trade.
Fantasy Grade: B+
- While he’ll be the third option behind Herro and Bam Adebayo, Powell is still a third- or fourth-round pick who can help you in all four of your scoring categories.
Loser: John Collins
In his eight-year NBA life, the former Wake Forester yet to play an entire 82-game season; last year, he missed 42 games, and of the 40 he played, he started a career-low 31. Yuck.
The good news is that his per-36 averages were similar to those of his previous seven campaigns: 22.4 points, 9.6 rebounds, and a career-best 84.8 FT%.
Still, dude can’t stay on the court. And for a team who relies on the oft-injured Kawhi Leonard, this isn’t a super-logical move.
Reality Grade: C-
- If Collins can play 25-30 minutes a night over 75 games, ta-da—but there’s zero proof that can be a thing. The only true plus is that he’s in the final year of his contract and will be fighting for his NBA life.
Fantasy Grade: D+
- It could be argued fantasy basketball’s two most crucial stats are games played and average minutes. Collins has yet to demonstrate he can consistently deliver either, so as a fantasy option, he's either a final-round dart-throw or a waiver wire wonder.
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-82121a1351894b8089c555f4b4b69420-1d609352940036e7455770363a74a2e9.png "Alan Goldsher")
Alan Goldsher has written about sports for Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Apple, Playboy, NFL.com, and NBA.com, and he’s the creator of the Chicago Sports Stuff Substack. He’s the bestselling author of 15 books, and the founder/CEO of Gold Note Records. Alan lives in Chicago, where he writes, makes music, and consumes and creates way too much Bears content. You can visit him at http://www.AlanGoldsher.com and http://x.com/AlanGoldsher.