As a Raptors fan, I’m surprised to see a lot of people saying he’s one of the weakest defenders on the team.
When he was on the Raptors, he was a decent defender (maybe even very slightly above average), with a defensive rating of 106 in his final year where he played the most minutes: https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/norman-powell-defensive-rating-career
It seems like his rating dropped off significantly once he left Toronto though. Is it because he’s lost a step in athleticism to stay in front of his guy? Or is his IQ not there, or does he just not try hard enough like Harden?
by ruhtraeel
1 Comment
Oh his defense is so bad. He gets lost off ball, his POA is barely any resistance, and we’re almost always playing him at the 3 where he’s undersized so we get killed on the boards. I guess he still gets deflections once in a while?