"Something’s gotta change": Norm Powell revisits Raptors' Kawhi Leonard trade

It’s been more than five years since the most famous Toronto Raptors trade in history, but that doesn’t stop the topic from still coming up from time to time.

On a recent episode of Podcast P with his teammate Paul George, current Los Angeles Clipper and former Raptor Norman Powell revisited the summer of 2018 when asked about the trade that sent Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green to Toronto in exchange for franchise icon DeMar DeRozan and Jakob Poeltl, along with a series of draft picks.

From 2016-18, Toronto had found themselves knocked out of the playoffs in three consecutive years by the same opponent, the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers.

“[LeBron James] had our number every single year,” Powell told George. “Nothing you can do.”

LeBron was wreaking havoc in the Eastern Conference 😭

The Norman Powell episode premieres NOW: https://t.co/stBVldtRCu pic.twitter.com/YwLKeNlHbx

— Podcast P with Paul George (@PodcastPShow) October 30, 2023

Powell commented on the turmoil that surrounded a Raptors team in need of a fresh look after three consecutive defeats at the hands of the Cavaliers, which included parting ways with longtime head coach Dwane Casey in favour of his assistant Nick Nurse.

“Something’s gotta change. We didn’t know what it was. Number one seed and we got swept. That doesn’t happen…We knew there needed to be an adjustment, we just didn’t know what. I thought it was going to be the coach. But, when DeMar got traded it was like oh everybody was glued to their phones like who’s next?” Powell added.

Fortunately for Powell, he wasn’t one of the Raptors shipped out of the door that summer, as he averaged 6.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 23 games off the bench in the 2019 playoffs en route to the franchise’s first NBA title.

But while he was able to survive a few more rounds of trade rumours, Powell himself was dealt away from the Raptors to the Portland Trail Blazers in 2021, which he documented in an emotional piece for The Players’ Tribune.

“It was straight-up waterworks. I started breaking down crying. All the memories that I’d been holding back for those last couple of days, they came rushing back in,” Powell said of the first time he played against the Raptors just three days after being traded away from the team.

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