The LA Clippers' 2024 offseason was filled with change, and marked by an uncertainty of the future. The Paul George-Kawhi Leonard duo was no more, with the latter of which set to be sidelined for an indefinite period to begin the season.
As such, many projected the Clippers to take a massive step back in the 2024-25 season, with some projecting them to finish in the bottom five teams in the conference and miss the play-in altogether. But as of this writing, they are massively performing their preseason expectations.
The most interesting part of LA's 6-5 start to the season has been that their most impactful player is not who most would have guessed. James Harden has been solid, and several new additions have been making a meaningful impact, but the Clippers' best player so far this season has unquestionably been Norman Powell.
In fact, Powell is putting himself into Most Improved Player conversations - at the age of 31. Who could have seen this coming? Well, for starters, the man himself. At media day, Norm told us all that he believed Paul George's loss would become an "addition by subtraction" scenario for his team, with plenty of able bodies ready to step up in his absence. One of those being himself, as he voiced he wanted to be the team's starting shooting guard.
Norman Powell has been the Clippers' best player
It was an extremely ambitious and bold statement by Powell, and plenty of fans and media pundits alike were prepared to roast him over it if he came out of the gate slow for the Clippers this season. But Norm has given the doubters no room to operate, becoming the single biggest reason the Clippers are a winning basketball team when no one thought they would be.
Powell is averaging 26.0 points per night for LA while shooting a career-best 52.7% from the floor. He has been the Clippers' most consistent source of scoring power, keeping them in games they would otherwise be too stuck in quicksand offensively.
LA's starting shooting guard is knocking down a blistering 50.5% of his shots from three-point range. He has finished top five in Sixth Man of the Year voting in the last two seasons, but now it seems that Norm will be in the conversation to be named an All-Star.
It seems we can not stop talking about Norman Powell, and yet, why would we? He has been the single biggest story for this Clippers team through the first three weeks of the season. Powell is doing everything in his power to keep LA relevant, and he deserves all the recognition coming his way.