Norman Powell just wants to play basketball.

The 2015 second-round draft pick of the Raptors obviously has his sights set on a debut with the team that drafted him as soon as possible, but he’s a patient man.

He has proven that over his four years at UCLA. Even taking the long way to the NBA, Powell says there’s plenty about his game that people still don’t know.

“There is a lot more to my game than what you have seen,” Powell said in a phone interview from the Raptors workout facility in Burnaby, B.C., where he was getting ready for summer league.

“I bring a lot more to the table than just defence and getting out in transition,” he said. “I feel I am one of the hardest working guys in this draft and I feel I have a lot more I can show and do for a team. When I get my opportunity to get on the court I give myself up for the team and do whatever it takes. I’m a winner and a competitor and I lay it all out there to be the best player on the court.”

Peruse YouTube and you can find plenty of Powell highlights, interestingly a lot of them coming against the guy drafted ahead of him by the Raptors, Delon Wright.

Those two had plenty of battles over the past two years, Wright playing at Utah, and now find themselves competing again although this time in the same uniform.

Wright, like Powell, is getting some pre Summer League work in at the Fortius Sports and Health Complex in Burnaby. It’s the same facility the Raptors used for training camp last year and will again this season.

Now that Powell has been drafted — his second round draft slot was part of the return in the Greivis Vasquez draft night deal with Milwaukee — the next step is figuring out where he will begin his professional journey and a lot of that will depend on what he shows over the next few weeks.

“Right now everything I am doing and everything I am working towards with the team is to play in the NBA,” Powell said. “Anything else that could happen is going on between my agent and (Raptors’ GM) Masai (Ujiri).

“Everything is geared toward the NBA and making an impact with the team, whatever it takes,” Powell said.

DeAndre Daniels was in a similar boat last year. The UConn product was the Raptors second-round pick at No. 37 in 2014 and played with the Raptors summer league team in Vegas. In August he signed on with the Perth Wildcats of the Australia’s National Basketball League.

The Raptors retained his rights while Daniels got some seasoning in a league against bigger, more experienced men. He’s back now and will play alongside both Powell and Wright in Vegas.

No decision by the Raptors has been made regarding whether Powell would follow a similar route to Daniels’, but it’s possible.

“If it came to that I wouldn’t have a problem with that,” Powell said, “but right now I’m not really focussed on that. It would be tough if it came down to that but all I care about is playing basketball, playing the game I love. I put everything I have into this sport. It’s my life. If the team asked me to go over and play basketball (overseas) for a year and then bring me back then that’s what I’m going to do. I’m still playing the game I love. I’m still doing what I love. I wouldn’t have a problem with that at all.”

This year there’s a viable third option for the Raptors as well with the new NBA D-League team, the Raptors 905, playing out of Mississauga’s Hershey Centre.

That option wasn’t open to Daniels a year ago but it’s a possibility for Powell if he does not crack the 15-man roster.

Unlike Daniels, Powell put in his full four years in college and while he admitted there was some temptation to come out after his junior year, finishing what he started at UCLA was in his best interests for a number of reasons.

“Definitely a temptation to leave early, especially when you see guys you are playing with going to the NBA early and leaving,” Powell said. “I had my first year of seeing guys get drafted and I felt like I had the talent to leave early but I just had to wait my turn. Being at UCLA I felt I had more to prove and my senior year let me do that. Become the man on the team, become the leader and leading the team the whole year and showing that I can be a force offensively.

“Also I wanted to get my degree and graduate UCLA and make my mom proud,” Powell said.

Now that all that has been accomplished there is only basketball to focus on and Powell can’t get enough to that.

He was checking out the Summer League action and some former teammates in Orlando on his iPad before conducting this interview and can’t wait to get to Vegas this week to start his own career.

VEGAS ROSTER TAKING SHAPE

The Raptors entry in the Las Vegas Summer League will contain, a little old, a little new, and a little fresh from the NBA draft.

The old will be returning players Bruno Caboclo, Lucas Nogueira and DeAndre Daniels, all three of whom took part last July in Vegas.

The new include Canadians Phil Scrubb, and brothers Dallin and Jordan Bachynski.

The fresh from the draft duo are No. 20 overall pick Delon Wright out of Utah and second-round pick Norman Powell of UCLA.

The Raptors will play three round-robin games and then at least one playoff game. The first scheduled game for Toronto is Friday at 5:30 p.m. at UNVL’s Thomas & Mack Center versus Sacramento which boasts No. 6 overall pick Willie Cauley-Stein out of Kentucky.