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Nets lose rookie 1st-round pick for Summer League due to knee injury

Originally posted on NBA on ClutchPoints | By Erik Slater | Last updated Jul 8, 2025 9:02 AM ET

The Brooklyn Nets will be without one of their first-round picks when they take the floor at the NBA’s summer league. Drake Powell, the No. 22 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, will not play in Las Vegas due to what the team is calling left knee tendinopathy, league sources told ClutchPoints.

The North Carolina wing tweaked his knee during a workout leading up to the draft. Brooklyn emphasized that Powell, who will travel with the team to Las Vegas, is being held out strictly as a precaution.

“It’s extremely disappointing not to play [in summer league] because coming in with these guys, I want to compete with them,” Powell told the New York Post on Monday. “So yeah, it’s definitely frustrating, but I understand it. I’d say it’s more of a precaution type thing right now… Definitely [will be with the team in Vegas], just to be there for breaking down film and seeing what we run offensively and defensively, and also to get to know my teammates and coaches.”

When he takes the floor in the regular season, Powell’s elite athleticism should excite Nets fans.

Nets first-round pick Drake Powell sidelined for NBA Summer League by knee ailment

North Carolina Tar Heels guard Drake Powell (9) goes to the basket against Wake Forest Demon Deacons guard Parker Friedrichsen (7) during the first half at Spectrum Center. Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Drake Powell is among the most athletic draft picks in Nets franchise history. The 19-year-old, measuring 6-foot-5.25 barefoot with a 7-foot wingspan, recorded a 43-inch max vertical leap at this year’s combine, the highest among all participants. Out of the 73 players who tested in Chicago, he ranked seventh in the shuttle run, eighth in the three-quarter court sprint, and 10th in the lane agility test.

Powell’s elite athleticism allowed him to emerge as one of the nation’s top defenders last season. Offensively, he shot 38 percent from three on 2.6 attempts per game but was limited outside of a spot-up role.

Brooklyn acquired the draft rights to Powell alongside Terance Mann in a salary dump from the Atlanta Hawks. The trade became official on Monday.

This article first appeared on NBA on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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