It has been 268 games now that the Raptors have seen Norm Powell in action — 68 of them starts, spread out over five NBA seasons and a bit of a sixth before Wednesday night — and they have watched sometimes in awe, sometimes with angst.
The 26-year-old guard/forward has been great and he has been much less than great: trying too hard sometimes, seamlessly fitting into smooth-running teams at other times.
Enigmatic. Sometimes promising and sometimes exasperating. Maybe that’s what the native of San Diego is destined to be: enthralling and infuriating and good enough to carry a team for long stretches, but also ineffective some nights to the point that someone else should get the chance.