The Brooklyn Nets have drafted former Tar Heel Drake Powell with the 22nd overall pick of the NBA Draft. Powell is now the 114th player out of the University of North Carolina to hear his name called in the draft, adding to the program’s impressive footprint in the NBA.
Drake Powell is a 6’6, 195-lb guard/small forward out of Pittsboro, NC. He committed to UNC fairly early in his high school career, and during that time improved so much that he eventually reached five-star status. By the time he wrapped up his high school career, he was the 11th-best player in the country according to the [247Sports Composite Rankings](https://247sports.com/player/drake-powell-46116213/), which was just a few steps behind fellow incoming Tar Heel at the time, Ian Jackson.
Powell had a pretty impressive 2024-25 campaign in Carolina blue, though it always felt like there was more that we could’ve seen from him. He finished his lone season averaging 7.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game. these numbers don’t exactly jump off the page, but a few things: first, he shot 48.3% from the field and 37.9% from three, which is truly impressive as a freshman wing. It is also worth noting that he was a respectable defender, and an athletic one at that. Powell was able to guard most positions because of his athleticism, and I can only imagine that he will become an even better defender in the NBA.
The common opinion by NBA scouts is that Powell can develop into a three-and-D player, which tracks with his skillset. He’s not a guy that dominates the ball, but he isn’t afraid to shoot when he has a good look at the basket. Again I emphasize that I do not feel like we saw everything that Powell could do while he was at UNC — why that is the case is a bit of a complicated, but obvious answer for Carolina fans — so it could be that we get to see some things that we haven’t seen before from him when he does set foot on an NBA floor.
Congratulations to Drake Powell, and congratulations to the Brooklyn Nets for landing who I think has a lot of potential to make a name for himself at the next level.