Dwight “Dwight Power” Powell is basically the next Clint Capela, who was basically the next DeAndre Jordan, except Powell isn’t quite as beefy or imposing. Still, against certain defenses he is unstoppable in the pick-and-roll (like against the Kings – Koufos was getting absolutely victimized), and for a lot of teams, that’s all you need out of the center position.
Does this video represent the death of the “Dwight Powell is an emerging stretch five” concept? It’s clear that his best attribute is his prolific catching of lobs. The fact that he can sometimes hit an outside shot is irrelevant when it would be so much better to just run and set a pick for the ball-handler. And that’s an easy thing to do when you know there’s a good chance that J.J. Barea is going to hit you with the sweet pass for a rim-rattling monster mash.
Oh well. If you want to relive the days of jump-shooting Powell, go and find the first video I made for this guy. I compared him to Brook Lopez then. How innocent I was, but, in fairness to myself, I was dazzled by his jumpers.