Drake Powell Represents Steal in 2025 NBA Draft

The NBA is a copycat league. That can be said about every major professional spot. Anytime a league is on the cusp of crowning a new champion, attention turns to how that team was built. What lessons can be learned? What can be duplicated?

In the 2025 NBA Finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder have a 3-2 series edge over the Indiana Pacers just days before the NBA Draft. No matter who goes on to win the title, both teams got to this point by relying on depth and development. Neither team rode a six-to-seven-man rotation to be on the doorstep of a ring. Instead, players 10-12 all had moments littered throughout this postseason to grant them a chance at a championship.

The Draft represents the first transactional window of the 2026 NBA offseason, as clubs gear up in an attmept to prove its roster and be playing into next June. The lessons the Thunder and Pacers have taught the NBA is that sometimes it is okay to forego perceived upside and instead lean on ready-made talent.

The importance of that will only grow under this new CBA as the first and second apron makes it harder to foot the bill on expensive teams. Soon, outside of rostering a top-five player in the sport nothing will be more valuable than cost controlled contracts.

That is where the 2025 NBA Draft comes in. Rather than swinging for a project pick, Drake Powell could be the best of both worlds. The UNC product remained in the 2025 NBA Draft following a freshman compaign that saw him post 7.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.4 stocks per game on 48/38/64 shooting splits.

Powell is a high-end defender who can thrive as a point-of-attack option and be a ball hawk in help coverages while splashing in triples and making a living off back cuts on the offensive end. Simply put, he is a winning player.

This would be the perfect draft for a winning team to capitalize on the margins and scoop up Powell to not only offer a high-impact out of the gate but grow into a great fifth starter in the future.