The Rajon Rondo trade was bad. It was really really really bad. However, the throw-in from the infamous Rondo trade has become a crown jewel. Dwight Powell turned all his hard work from the offseason into an impressive summer league performance for which he earned Second Team All-Summer League honors.
Mavs' summer league coach Kaleb Canales must have issued Powell a mandatory three-point decree. The second-year big man launched 8.2 threes per game, a number that would make even Charlie Villanueva blush.
Powell developing into a floor spacer will largely influence the amount of minutes he sees this season. Ideally, Powell should be the primary Dirk backup that the Mavericks roster has lacked for quite some time. He's a hustle guy with legitimate size at the power forward and he flashed some impressive playmaking skills during his time in Vegas. When Powell catches the ball in the pick and roll, he has the ability to locate shooters in the corner, put the ball on the floor or hit a jumper.
He should be a fun bright spot in what looks to be a gruesome season.