Nets draft pick Drake Powell not playing in summer league due to knee injury

Drake Powell posted an impressive 43-inch vertical leap at the NBA scouting combine before the Nets used the No. 22 pick in the draft on the shooting guard from North Carolina following a trade with Atlanta. 

Perhaps even more impressive?

He made that jump while dealing with a troublesome left knee. 

Powell told The Post that he tweaked his knee during the lead-up to the draft, and the Nets say the injury — which they described as tendinopathy — will preclude him from playing alongside the Nets’ other four first-round picks during summer league action beginning later this week in Las Vegas. 

The Nets and the 19-year-old Powell stressed he’s being held out as a precaution, and the rookie added he’d be playing if these were regular-season games. 

“Absolutely. It’s extremely disappointing not to play [in summer league] because coming in with these guys, I want to compete with them,” Powell said Monday at an appearance with the other Nets rookies at a camp for kids in Sunset Park in Brooklyn. “So yeah it’s definitely frustrating, but I understand it. I’d say it’s more of a precaution type thing right now.” 

The 6-foot-5 Powell averaged 7.4 points and 25.6 minutes per game while shooting 37.9 percent from 3-point range in 37 games (24 starts) as a freshman for the Tar Heels last season. 

He will accompany the team to Las Vegas even though he will be unable to suit up for the games. 

“Definitely, 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,” Powell said, adding he was “not sure” how much higher he would have jumped at the combine if not for his knee issue. “I feel like my explosiveness is what I can bring to the team, both offensively and defensively. 

“My defense is very important and I think it’s one of the staples of my game. I try to be myself, but I try to take bits and pieces from other people’s games, too, like Devin Booker and Mikal Bridges, guys like that.” 

Powell will get to show the Nets that athleticism soon enough on the court, just not this month in Vegas. 

The Nets made the trade for Powell’s rights official on Monday, also taking on Terance Mann’s contract from the Hawks in a three-team swap with the Celtics.