Drake Powell 2025 NBA Draft Profile

Drake Powell 2025 NBA Draft Profile

The calendar has turned June! We are less than a month away from the 2025 NBA Draft! Today, we will be going over North Carolina’s Drake Powell! Let’s dive into it!

Height (no shoes): 6’5.25 (7’0 wingspan, 8’7 standing reach)

Weight: 200.4

Draft Age: 19.8

Position: Wing

Powell wasn’t quite a top-10 prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, but he finished 11th, according to 247sports.com. Out of Northwood High School in Pittsboro, N.C., he was the second-highest North Carolina recruit in the class–behind only Ian Jackson–choosing the Tar Heels over Tennessee, Miami, Georgia, Florida State and LSU, among others.

Starting 24 of his 37 games in his lone season, he averaged just 7.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in 25.6 minutes per game, shooting 48.3 percent from the floor and 37.9 percent from 3-point range.

Strengths:

Powell’s a freak of nature athletically, scoring the highest max vertical leap (43 inches) with arms as long as the Eiffel Tower. His plus-seven wingspan didn’t do enough justice. I’m semi-convinced he could touch the ground standing straight up if he wanted to.

The lengthy wing is one of the most versatile perimeter defenders in this class with real potential to defend at least three positions at the next level. He switched a lot at UNC and wasn’t afraid to get into people’s jersey’s (despite a lack of productivity).

He did a fairly good job screen navigating and chasing off-ball with respectable court awareness. Every once in a while, he would get caught ball-watching off-ball or poorly navigate a screen, but those reps were few and far between compared to most freshmen I saw.

I think Powell’s motor elevates his defensive potential. His length, IQ, athleticism and motor blended together make for a very good defensive prospect. The tools are there.

Furthermore, another one of his strengths was his play-finishing. He was best in the open floor, especially if he was on the receiving end of transition possessions. While he didn’t do it as often as I would’ve liked, Powell was a pretty good cutter and finished well around the rim, converting on 71.1 percent on his attempts, according to Barttorvik.

His 3-point shot is a work-in-progress, but he slightly improved by season’s end with workable mechanics. That part of his game will need massaging, but I think there’s potential if he keeps working at it. He was also a good connective passer when shots weren’t there for him, keeping the ball moving without many (if any) extra dribbles.

Weaknesses:

Powell is raw offensively. Like, very raw.

They moved him around in different actions, but he was off-ball a large portion of the time in the halfcourt and didn’t really demonstrate any viable ballhandling or playmaking in the halfcourt. He performed well in the open court, but those were mere flashes. As I mentioned above, he was a good connective passer, but wasn’t tasked with making very many reads.

While he shot 38.5 percent from deep over his last 15 games (2.6 3PA), Powell’s shot didn’t always look fluid as he was rising up. He has a hitch when he gets it to his chin. He was a poor free-throw shooter as well, albeit on low volume. I think there was improvement as the season went on, but still not enough for me to not to label it a true weakness. Again, he has workable mechanics.

I’m not worried about his lack of stocks (steals plus blocks) because that’s not how anyone should judge defensive potential. But I do want to see him rebound the rock more (for his length) and fill out his frame.

Projection: Second Round

I have an early second-round grade for Powell. If you want my honest opinion, I thought he should’ve gone back to college. He has potential and talent, but there is still a lot of his game that needs development. You’re betting on Powell’s athletic and physical traits, which are tantalizing. But I think you’re going to have to be okay with him not producing right away. Not all growth is linear–remember that.

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