Brooklyn Nets forward Drake Powell, the 22nd overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, is one of five players the Nets took in the Draft that happened last week. Powell is one of the players that Brooklyn took who has a different skillset from the rest of the class, but the team won’t be able to see how he puts that to the test against NBA competition later this week.
Powell will not be playing for the Nets in the Las Vegas Summer League that begins on Thursday, July 10, but he will still be traveling with the team, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post. Per Lewis, Powell is dealing with left knee tendinopathy at the moment, but the team considers it to be a minor injury that shouldn’t linger for too long. Powell will also work out with the team in Las Vegas, per Lewis.
Per the Mayo Clinic, knee tendinopathy, also known as jumper’s knee, is an injury to the tendon that joins the kneecap, also called the patella, to the shinbone. In other words, this injury is common in those who plays sports that involve a lot of jumping, such as basketball or volleyball. To that point, this injury being considered minor is a good news for a Nets team hoping to see what Powell can do before the 2025-26 season begins.
Powell, 19, played one season at the University of North Carolina in which he averaged 7.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game while shooting 48.3% from the field and 37.9% from three-point land in 25.6 minutes per game. Coming into the Draft, Powell was considered to be one of the prospects in the class that could become a contributor in the NBA as a forward who could play defense and shoot three-pointers at an efficient clip.
The Nets are most likely hoping to get more out of Powell than just a 3-and-D kind of player, given that he entered this past college season as a highly-touted recruit and 2024 McDonald’s All-American out of Northwood High School in North Carolina. Powell won’t be able to show what he can do at this stage of his career just yet, but he should be able to do so when training camp begins later this year.
Looks like Drake Powell won’t play for the Nets in Vegas because of his knee ailment, but he should be fine. The focus will likely be on Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, Ben Saraf, and Danny Wolf. https://t.co/0Wl0c32Ieq
— Sharif Phillips-Keaton (@SharifKeaton) July 7, 2025
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Report: Nets’ Drake Powell out for Vegas Summer League with knee issue