Norman Powell (SF, LAC) - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 16

January 29, 2023

Norman Powell is worth considering as a fantasy basketball waiver wire pickup heading into Week 16 of the 2022-23 NBA season.

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 31% of leagues

ANALYSIS: Love him or hate him, Norman Powell is amazing. Even through his most recent two-game "slump" in which he failed to crack the 20-FP barrier, Powell still got to score 15 and 10 points while contributing at least two dimes each time, hoisting 11 FGA in each of those two games, and hitting exactly four shots on back-to-back outings (three and two of them three-pointers, respectively).

Powell missed nearly a month starting right at the end of November and up until (nearly) Christmas, returning just five days shy of the December 25 festivities. That's the only reason I can think of when trying to explain this man's ridiculously low rostership, but it's been more than a month since he came back so not even that makes any sense at this point.

While a sixth man these days playing from the bench with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard (reasonably and obviously) getting the starting calls, Powell is a super-powered reserve. In his last 12 games, Powell has played an average of 27 MPG while leading the second unit of the Clips with a 25.5 USG% nearly on par with the ones posted by PG13 (27.9%) and Kawhi (27.5%) with the starters.

Powell has the second-most total points in that span among his teammates only behind Kawhi and is averaging 18+ PPG in January to go with at least 1+ 3PM scored each and every time he's graced the hardwood (the streak is now up to 14 games and counting through Saturday).

Powell's daily stat line is reading 18-3-1 this month, which pretty much explains the type of player he is these days: an off-the-pine microwave scorer. He's steadily attempting 12+ FGA per game, hitting 50%+ of them and also 50%+ on three-point attempts (nearly 6 3PA a pop).

Don't add Powell if you want multi-cat goodies outside of the points, three-point shots, shootings percentages, and limited rebounds. That said, make sure to add this man wherever the hell you manage because he's nothing even remotely close to an asset worth only a 30% rostership.

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