Scouting Report
Josh Powell had the worst season of his career last year. Being the 10th man on the Lakers is never going to wield a large number of minutes but even then Powell’s court time was underwhelming. Josh didn’t see the floor because he was doing the little things that were required of him in order to keep his spot on such a talented teams. Being that his minutes only came during blowouts or because of foul trouble, the fact that his numbers were so low is kind of surprising.
Powell averaged career lows in minutes, points and rebounds last season and shot a career low 37%. Josh’s offensive role has been to hit open mid-range jumpshots in a mop-up role and he showed that he could fill that role during his 2008 and 2009 campaigns. But last season, Powell’s shot disappeared and he wasn’t converting any open looks from the spots he was supposed to be counted on from. It didn’t damage the Lakers much considering he was not in the game in crucial situations but there were a couple of times with Andrew Bynum out with an injury and Lamar Odom in foul trouble when Powell was counted on and he didn’t deliver.
Other than his shot, Powell doesn’t have many offensive weapons, so the fact that he couldn’t shoot last season made him useless offensively for the Lakers. He’s doesn’t have the ability to get by his defender and when he gets to the rim he isn’t a fantastic finisher. He is very underwhelming offensively if he isn’t hitting his jumper.
Defensively Josh showed some nice things. He contested shots and used his big frame to make getting into their comfort zones difficult for his opponents. Of course, those opponents were most likely the 10th and 11th men on the other team but his fundamentals were sound and could translate to good defense against better players if he is placed on the floor against the elite players in the league, though that doesn’t seem likely as his new team, the Atlanta Hawks, have a nice group of big men, though it doesn’t compare to the Lakers.
This will be 5th team in seven NBA seasons but there are no personal issues you have to worry about. Powell was a good character guy for the Lakers and was one of Kobe Bryant‘s better friends on the team. The Hawks will be getting a great guy, a hard worker and someone who is willing to give everything to benefit his team. The question that remains to be answered is whether or not he is still capable of being a contributor at the NBA level. Judging by his final season with the Lakers, the odds are against him, but Powell has the attitude and drive to turn his reputation around and become a solid role player for a playoff team, even if it is in a limited role.
Statistical Analysis
Season Age Tm Lg G GS MP FG% 3P% FT% TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
2005-06 23 DAL NBA 37 2 11.6 .457 .800 2.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.6 1.4 3.0
2006-07 24 TOT NBA 37 0 9.5 .462 .714 2.4 0.6 0.1 0.3 0.8 1.6 3.1
2006-07 24 IND NBA 7 0 9.1 .133 .667 2.7 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.7 2.6 1.7
2006-07 24 GSW NBA 30 0 9.6 .526 .733 2.3 0.6 0.2 0.4 0.8 1.4 3.5
2007-08 25 LAC NBA 64 25 19.2 .460 .000 .724 5.2 0.7 0.2 0.4 1.0 2.0 5.5
2008-09 26 LAL NBA 60 1 11.7 .444 .760 2.9 0.5 0.2 0.3 0.9 1.6 4.2
2009-10 27 LAL NBA 63 0 9.2 .366 .438 .645 1.8 0.6 0.1 0.1 0.5 1.1 2.7
Career NBA 261 28 12.6 .436 .368 .733 3.0 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.8 1.6 3.8
Advanced Stats
Season MP PER TS% TRB% AST% STL% BLK% TOV% USG% ORtg DRtg OWS DWS WS
2005-06 429 9.2 .546 11.4 3.2 0.9 0.7 17.9 13.4 106 107 0.3 0.4 0.7
2006-07 353 9.6 .520 13.8 8.7 0.7 2.6 20.6 17.1 96 107 -0.1 0.3 0.3
2006-07 64 -1.3 .296 17.2 6.7 0.0 0.0 19.8 17.7 72 107 -0.2 0.1 -0.1
2006-07 289 12.0 .570 13.1 9.1 0.8 3.2 20.8 17.0 101 107 0.1 0.3 0.4
2007-08 1227 10.7 .500 15.6 6.5 0.6 1.4 15.5 15.7 99 109 0.1 1.0 1.1
2008-09 703 9.9 .479 14.1 5.6 0.7 1.9 16.3 19.5 97 106 -0.3 0.9 0.6
2009-10 581 6.7 .407 11.2 9.0 0.8 0.8 13.7 18.6 89 106 -0.7 0.7 0.0
Career 3293 9.5 .482 13.8 6.5 0.7 1.4 16.2 16.9 97 108 -0.6 3.3 2.7
Powell’s loss of his shooting touch is well documented by his spot-up shooting percentage and shooting percentage from different ranges on the court. According to Synergy Sports Technology, Powell shot just 28% on spot-up jump shots last season. Yes, he is a power forward, but he is a shooting forward and that percentage simply cannot be tolerated, even if it comes from a 10th man. According to HoopData, Powell shot 26% from 10-15 last season (compared to 42% in 2009) and 28% from 16-23 feet (compared to 42% in 2009).
In a similar fashion, both offensive win shares and offensive rating paint an ugly picture of Powell’s offense last season, giving him -.7 offensive win shares and an 89 offensive rating (average is 100). Obviously Powell did not accumulate the minutes to counteract some of the negatives he brought to the floor but playing time is something that his own play dictated.
On defense, Powell’s numbers don’t do him much justice but he did receive an above average mark at defending spot-up shots (which was, ironically, his biggest weakness on the other end of the floor), by holding his opponents to just .75 points per possession and 33% shooting. Per36, Josh also ranked in an alright played with seven rebounds (three offensive) a game last season.
Player Grade
Offense: 1 out 10 – Powell showed that he could score the ball with the Lakers and Clippers but last season’s performance brought him down a notch in my book.
Defense: 3 out 10 – Josh has the frame to be an OK defender with the right center behind him. He showed fundamental skill in LA but again, the quality of his opponents may have had too much to do with his success.
Overall: 4 out of 20 – Don’t expect Powell to bust out any time soon and make an amazing transformation into a starter. He is what he is and at his best that’s not very much. However, if he can rediscover that shot, he’s a player that can contribute in some kind of a reserve role. 8th-11th man, I’d say. He’s a hard worker, a nice body to have defensively and can score so long as he gets that shot back.
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