The Boston Celtics' offense has actually been quite good even though their three-ball has not been as consistent as it has been before. There's a solid chance that if and when they start hitting their threes, their offense will go from pretty good to elite. Even so, there's nothing wrong with having a pure three-level scorer to take the pressure off Jayson Tatum and Paul George.
Make no mistake that Tatum and George have been as awesome as the Celtics could have hoped for this season. Payton Pritchard and Derrick White haven't exactly been as dependable offensive complementary pieces, and while they are definitely capable of doing more, they don't have the scoring gravity that someone like Norman Powell would have.
Powell is a surefire 20-point scorer who has come through for multiple teams throughout his career, including Toronto, Portland, Los Angeles, and Miami. In Chicago, he's not having the best season, but is that really a reflection of how weak the Bulls are as a whole?
More importantly, he's still scoring around 20 points despite low efficiency (near 40/31/80 shooting splits). If he's next to Tatum and George, there's good reason to believe his efficiency would go way up, even if his scoring numbers would go down. Powell isn't a No. 1 or No. 2 option on a title, but a No. 3? Oh yeah, sounds perfect for Boston.
Especially because their young wings haven't exactly taken the world by storm. It's not their fault, and some, like Baylor Scheierman, have stood out more than others, but it'd be nice to have someone dependable.
Not to mention, it would be phenomenal trolling of Miami after they failed to keep him thanks to the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade.
Working out a trade would be tough though
NBA Insider Jake Fischer revealed during one of his more recent live streams that the Bulls will field calls on Powell before the trade deadline, which makes sense because they are panning out to be one of the NBA's worst teams.
Powell has a team-friendly deal. While he makes a little over $20 million, he also has a team option. If Boston were to acquire him, they could work out a team-friendly deal this summer, as many speculate they will with George.
However, making a deal is not that simple. Boston has that $27.7 million Anfernee Simons TPE, but because of those darn tax aprons, they would have to send some contracts. The Celtics have also clearly placed an emphasis on being below the luxury tax line, which is why they currently have 14 players on the roster, not 15.
They would have to combine a few contracts to get a deal done for Powell. The most obvious candidate would be Mitchell Robinson, but even with all of his struggles, that is risky. Plus, either the Bulls would redirect Robinson elsewhere or would ask for assets on top of Robinson.
Of course, we are getting ahead of ourselves here. We need to wait and see how good this Celtics team truly is before they make some changes. However, if they are just one pure scorer away from being right back in the title conversation, Powell would make sense.
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