The Nets constantly plug Drake Powell as the most athletic player in this year’s draft class.
He’ll get a chance to prove it, they hope sooner rather than later.
After a knee injury robbed Powell of a chance to play in summer league, or even play pickup with his new teammates over the past few months, the rookie wing was finally cleared for full-contact work before Monday’s practice.
“[He’s practiced] a few times,” Nets coach Jordi Fernández said. “He’s been doing a great job. His body looks good. Getting ready to better ramp up, and just being cautious. He’s done a really good job. He’s an elite athlete — we believe the best athlete in the draft — so it’s exciting to watch him take those steps. And he is putting the work in, for sure.”
“Best athlete” is of course subjective. But there is at least some validity to the claim, with Powell posting the best max vertical (43 inches) and the top standing vertical (37.5) at the combine
Those leaps were made all the more impressive by the fact that Powell was already dealing with left knee tendinopathy.
Powell got drafted 22nd overall with the pick that Brooklyn acquired for taking Terance Mann as a salary dump, but he missed summer league and was even held out of contact for the first week of camp.
But the training wheels came off Monday, and he’s trying to get up to speed.
“Yeah, it’s been great. You know, just being able to be a student of the game, still trying to learn different concepts to this new system that I’m in,” said Powell.
“But now being in it, I think that’s helped me 100 percent. It’s not saying that I learned everything, there’s still some things to learn, as it’s different being on the sidelines and now being on the court, but yeah, just still taking it day by day. And most importantly, I have trust in myself.”
For Powell, he had an extraordinarily low usage rate at North Carolina as a 3-and-D wing.
On offense he’ll have to work on going to his weak hand, hone his shot selection and adjust to the NBA game.
“I feel like [I have] a pretty good understanding; I’d say so. Given my time that I spent in North Carolina, midrange shots … were limited,” Powell said. “[Fernández] still wants us to take them, but obviously not at a high clip. [We] still want to get layups and 3s, as many as you can.”
