Nets Assign First-Rounders Danny Wolf and Drake Powell to Long Island

Two members of the Brooklyn Nets' record-breaking 2025 NBA Draft haul will begin the season in the G League. On Monday, Brooklyn assigned both Drake Powell and Danny Wolf to its G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, allowing the duo to gain experience outside of the active roster.

A real case can be made that Wolf, 21, and Powell, 20, may end up being the most impactful members of the Nets' 2025 class, even in spite of the G League assignment. Brooklyn's fanbase shouldn't scoff at the decision, because this was always the plan; it just wasn't clear yet who'd be joining Long Island.

“I assume some of these guys will definitely spend some time in Long Island,” Sean Marks told NetsDaily over the offseason. “We’ll have to see how the season sort of plays out and what minutes are there for everybody, but at the same time, as Jordi [Fernandez] mentioned, it’s an environment of competitive nature out here. So that’s what we want to see. These guys go compete. There are no promises given to anybody, let alone the draft picks.”

Wolf and Powell are now set to navigate the Nets' G League machine, which has produced notable names such as Keon Johnson and Drew Timme. While neither player is still with Brooklyn, they each developed skills on the Island that directly translated to Kings County.

The rookie tandem joins the following training camp roster:

The big man out of Michigan's first appearance post-preseason will come in the G League. After spraining his ankle pregame ahead of the season-opening loss to Charlotte, Wolf has yet to make his regular-season debut. Should that ankle heal, and he looks to be the same player he was throughout the preseason, Wolf likely returns to the active roster to help the current frontcourt.

Powell, like Wolf, is dealing with a sprained ankle and also isn't expected to stay in the G League for an extensive period of time. The UNC product posted just two points, two rebounds and one steal through seven minutes of the season opener, but his high two-way potential should keep him from being stashed out on the Island.

Similar to last year, as the season progresses, Brooklyn will begin utilizing the G League roster in case of injury pileups, potential waivings or trades. It'd be hard to imagine either Wolf or Powell remaining there beyond the first of those situations occurring.