Drake Powell entered the NBA with a label he didn’t ask for.
After being selected, No. 22 overall in June’s NBA draft, the UNC product was tagged by some executives as the draft’s biggest “reach” in ESPN’s overall draft survey that polled over 20 anonymous NBA executives and scouts, asking for their thoughts on the incoming rookie class for the 2025-26 NBA season.
Sure, he had been projected a lot higher coming out of high school when the worldwide leader had him as the No. 14 college recruit and other
recruiting services had him at No. 9 and 11 nationally. But the word was his freshman year at North Carolina was deemed a disappointment. So he dropped, thus the “reach” tag.
In ESPN’s final mock draft, Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo had Powell, then 19, projected as an early second round pick, at No. 32, to be specific. But Nets scouts and the front office thought more highly of him, taking him 10 spots earlier. Thus the “reach.”
But the early returns tell a completely different story. In the middle of a rough 3-14 start for the Nets, Powell’s flashes have stood out as one of Brooklyn’s few genuine bright spots.
His upside was on full display Monday night at the Barclays Center as Brooklyn hosted their crosstown rivals, the New York Knicks.
Coming off the bench, Powell tied his career-high in points with 15, coupled with four assists and a steal on 64% true shooting throughout 24 minutes.
Coming off the bench, the 20-year-old has played at least 14 minutes in nine straight games, as Sharif Phillips-Keaton noted. In seven of the nine, he’s played 20 or more.
“Just out there playing basketball, trying to be aggressive, and just trusting myself, my teammates, and my coaches,” Powell said of his stellar performance Monday night. “Versatility is a big thing for me, and I do my best to make the right basketball play.”
“As we go, he’s gonna continue to understand the league [and] the schemes, especially defensively,” Nets head coach Jordi Fernández said of Powell, per Brian Lewis. “I consider him a very, very good defender with a really high ceiling defensively, and I’m gonna keep challenging him to be better.”
After nine games back on the floor, following his recovery from an ankle injury that he suffered during Brooklyn’s season-opening 136-117 loss to the Charlotte Hornets, Powell continues to look more confident and poised in each outing, which is evident on the stat sheet and in the eyes of his head coach.
“I’m happy with how he looked out there,” Fernández said. “He looked free out there, having fun [and] playing really hard. We’ve got to continue taking really positive steps with him.”
Offensively, he has been efficient, converting 50.9% of his field goal attempts while knocking down 38.1% of his opportunities from beyond the arc across 11 games. Going into the Nets Black Friday game vs. the 76ers, he’s averaging 6.9 points in 18.9 minutes.
“He’s got to keep trusting his shot,’’ Fernández said. “He’s got to be comfortable shooting a little bit faster. That just comes with time and work. I think he’ll be OK.”
On the defensive end, his impact is already easy to feel. The Durham, N.C., native ranks second on the team in steal rate at 2.4%. His jaw-dropping 43” max vertical and 7-foot wingspan gives him the tools to keep piling up takeaways, particularly on the perimeter. He’s already disrupting passing lanes, switching across matchups, and holding his own against multiple positions, which are signs of a highly athletic defender who’s only beginning to scratch the surface of what he can be, as Fernandez noted.
Moreover, he’s no longer pigeon-holed as a 3-and-D (and mostly D) as he was at North Carolina. Fernandez has him playing backup point behind Egor Demin. That’s ironic considering when draftniks analyzed the Nets five first rounders, they noted that Powell was the only one of the Flatbush 5 to not play the point!
His teammates believe they’ve seen a different Powell in recent weeks.
“We’ve seen him throughout the summer, so we knew what he was capable of,” Noah Clowney said. “Toward the end of the summer, we started putting him in different positions where he was handling it a lot more. So, yeah, most of it we’ve seen before. He’s just showing y’all all that now.”
Where he’ll wind up is yet to be determined but as Powell noted, he likes to be versatile. He credits Nets assistant Corey Vinson who specializes in player development for guiding him.
“It’s been great. My player development coach, Corey Vinson, he’s been great,” Powell said. “We have multiple film meetings, and those are very important to me. I want to continue to buy into those because I think that’ll help translate onto the floor.”
At the moment, he’s playing the second most minutes of the five rookies and will likely continue pile up time on the court. That’s less of a reach.
- Drake Powell is showing the Nets just a tantalizing hint of what he can bring – Brian Lewis – New York Post
- Nets’ Drake Powell discusses growing confidence in offensive game – Sharif Phillips-Keaton – USA TODAY
- Nets are unlocking a new Drake Powell ($) – C.J. Holmes – New York Daily News
