Nets announce that they have officially signed F Drake Powell, the 22nd overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, to a multi-year contract. Powell will not play in the upcoming Las Vegas Summer League due to left knee tendinopathy, but the team doesn’t view that as a major injury. pic.twitter.com/aZiaUwJBgJ
— Sharif Phillips-Keaton (@SharifKeaton) July 8, 2025
The Brooklyn Nets had one of the most interesting performances in the 2025 NBA Draft as they made all five of their first-round selections in the Draft. One of Brooklyn’s five picks, North Carolina forward Drake Powell, will not be playing in the upcoming Las Vegas Summer League, but he and the team are still taking care of business behind the scenes.
The Nets announced on Tuesday that they had officially signed Powell to a multi-year contract, but as per team policy, they did not list the details of the deal. Part of the reason that it took so long for Brooklyn to get Powell under contract was due to the nature of the trade that brought Powell to the Nets having to be official before the Nets could officially sign him to the roster.
Prior to the 2025 Draft, Brooklyn acquired Powell, along with forward Terance Mann, from the Atlanta Hawks as part of a multi-team trade between the Nets, Hawks, and Boston Celtics. Most signings and/or trades made between July 1 and July 6 are subject to the NBA free-agency moratorium and it’s possible that the multi-team nature of the deal made it take longer than usual to finalize.
Either way, Powell is now under contract, meaning that his deal is likely worth $16,723,992 million over four years, according to Spotrac’s listing of the NBA’s rookie-scale for someone taken with the 22nd overall pick. As already mentioned, Powell will not be taking part in the Las Vegas summer league that begins on July 10 due to his dealing with left knee tendinitis.
Powell, 19, played in 37 games for the Tar Heels during his freshman season and averaged 7.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game while shooting 48.3% from the field and 37.9% from three-point land. In addition to helping North Carolina make the NCAA Tournament, Powell also earned Defensive Player of the Year for the Tar Heels, showing that he could potentially be an effective player on both ends of the floor for the Nets.