LA Clippers acquire Norman Powell from Portland Trail Blazers in 5-player trade
The LA Clippers are acquiring Portland Trail Blazers veterans Norman Powell and Robert Covington in a trade that sends Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, Keon Johnson and a 2025 second-round draft pick to Portland, the teams announced Friday.
The Clippers will send a 2025 second-round pick via the Detroit Pistons as part of the trade.
The deal sets up both teams for additional moves as they reshape rosters ahead of next Thursday’s trade deadline and beyond.
For the Clippers, the acquisition of Powell delivers them a high-level scoring guard and defender to partner with All-Stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George for the next several years. LA is determined to surround those two stars — both currently sidelined with injuries — with shooters and versatile defenders.
The Blazers clear Powell’s five-year, $90 million contract as they prepare to commit to a long-term extension this summer with 21-year-old Anfernee Simons, who has been a revelation for the franchise this year. Both Bledsoe and Winslow are under contract through next season and are capable rotation players.
The deal moves Portland under the luxury tax threshold and expands LA’s payroll from $93.9 million to $112.9 million. The Clippers and Blazers are both expected to continue to make deals over the next week. The Blazers’ plan is to continue to reshape the roster around All-NBA guard Damian Lillard.
Blazers coach Chauncey Billups spoke about the team wanting more cap flexibility for the future.
“(Interim Blazers general manager) Joe (Cronin) and I have so many talks and conversations about what NBA championship contending team roster looks like, and trying to find a way to get our roster to that point,” Billups said. “Today we lost some good players obviously that were really loved around here. But this is all a part of it. This is kind of the business of it, that we took some necessary steps to have the flexibility we’re going to need.”
Johnson was the 21st pick in the 2021 draft out of Tennessee. The 19-year-old is considered to have significant potential.
Powell, 28, has averaged 18.7 points on 40.6% 3-point shooting this season. He arrived in a deadline trade with the Toronto Raptors a year ago and signed an extension with Portland over the summer.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.