Powell still coming to terms with whirlwind trade from Raptors

TORONTO – It was an emotional day for Norman Powell Thursday, but he still went about his business as he was supposed to.

Despite getting word that he was getting traded to the Portland Trail Blazers closer to 1 p.m. ET, he still went through his day as he normally would have, holding everything in – until he couldn’t anymore.

“I had to go still get tested,” said Powell, speaking before he posted 22 points to help the Trail Blazers beat the Magic 112-105 on Friday. “Our normal test time is at five. I kinda moseyed on in there a little late because I didn’t want to run into too many people, you know, it was gonna be an emotional day. I was holding pretty strong, pretty good. It was just funny, as soon as I walked in, I ran into Terence [Davis] and Matt Thomas, and all three of us ended up being traded, and we were the only ones in there at first.

“And then OG [Anunoby] came, Pascal [Siakam], Fred [VanVleet], Kyle [Lowry], and Jama [Mahlalela]. And when I ran into Jama, you know, Jama was the first coach I was tied to when I got to Toronto. That’s, I think, when the emotions came out about what actually happened. After that, I was very emotional seeing everybody.”

The second-longest serving Raptor at the time finally let the moment sink in. He was no longer a Raptor.

A sad realization, but also part of the harsh reality of the NBA that nearly every player has to deal with at some point.

For Powell, he first experienced it in in 2019 when he was hanging out with then-Raptor Delon Wright on trade deadline day and he was flipped to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of the deal that brought Marc Gasol to the Raptors.

And, as fate would have it, when word broke that Powell had been traded on Thursday, Wright was one of the first people who reached out to Powell to help him through the oddity of being traded like Powell was there for him.

“It’s crazy. This is my first time experiencing this. Like it was said earlier, I was with my boy Delon in 2019 when he was traded,” said Powell. “He was one of the first people to text me, saying ‘The first move always hits different.’ I think I was always pushing it off, pushing it off, not focusing on what was said and what was going on. It was a lot. My phone started blowing up. Still trying to put everything in perspective.”

And he wasn’t the only one trying to wrap his head around what just happened. His now-former teammates were also sad to see him go.

“Norm? It’s tough, right? A guy who really put his heart and soul and his footprint into a franchise, into a city, into being a part of what has been done here, right,” said Lowry after Toronto’s defeat to the Phoenix Suns Friday night, and who also was subject to trade rumours but ultimately didn’t get dealt.

“He started from a second-round pick out of UCLA, not playing much, found a way to get into the playoff round, playoff series, guarded the heck out of the ball, big plays, going down to the G League and grew, coming up to the big club and working, continuing to get better, become a better shooter, a better professional and becoming a champion.

“Then this year he was just taking another step forward. I was looking at the stats tonight, he’s like clockwork… just the consistency he’s playing with. It sucks, it’s hard, it’s really hard.”

Powell is still trying to piece everything together but during his first media availability as Trail Blazer he was saying all the right things and appeared to have things sink in a little more than when he first heard news that he was being dealt.

In the moment, Powell said the speed at which he found out he was getting traded was jarring.

“I always think it’s a possibility. It wasn’t the first time I was involved in trade talks, me being moved, this that and the other. I think it was more of a shock just because I was on the phone with my agent and literally was telling me there was nothing going on and he received a call from Bobby [Webster] and like 30 seconds later, you know, found out that I was being traded. I think the shock was there just because I was told that nothing was moving and then literally just shifted and changed like that.”

And in the immediate aftermath of hearing the news, the raw emotion of knowing his time with the only franchise he’s known was over took him for a moment, but at the same time the business of the NBA is what it is.

“It’s tough. You’ve got to switch gears and figure out the moves and the steps to take to get with the team and the moves they’re asking for you to get completed and done,” said Powell. “I was on the road probably three or four hours after the trade went down. It’s tough. It’s a mental shift you have to try to do, to focus on exactly what’s in front of you. It’s really hard because everybody’s texting you from the organization you were just with, bummed, sad, crying. It’s a very emotional journey.

“It’s kind of a part of the business is what I said. I wasn’t looking at anything else outside of Toronto. I really wanted to stay in Toronto. [But] things that you can’t control I can’t really harp on. You just have to take it on the chin, focus on what you can control and look on your next chapter with an open mind, going in there wide-eyed and accepting everything in front of you and looking for support wherever you are in with the new organization and teammates.”

Change can be rapid and brutal in the NBA, but that doesn’t mean memories won’t remain.

Powell was a second-round draft pick in 2015 but very quickly endeared himself to the Raptors fan base because of his blue-collar work ethic and his flashes of playoff brilliance, starting with one of the most memorable dunks in Raptors history when he made a big steal and huge slam against the Indiana Pacers in Game 5 of their first round series.

Raptors fans won't ever forget this moment from Playoff Powell

(: @NBA) pic.twitter.com/fa1aj3kOid

— Tim and Friends (@timandfriends) March 25, 2021

The love Toronto fans had for Powell was real and it was reciprocated.

“The thing I’m gonna miss most, just the city,” Powell said. “Toronto was the start of everything. Truly embraced who I am as a player. All the memories, all the connections and relationships I created over my time there in the organization. Definitely gonna miss that and the vibe and the fan base playing in Scotiabank [Arena]. Definitely gonna miss the city and the fans and the organization. Just the whole vibe of Toronto was amazing.”

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