Looks like Drake Powell may have twisted his ankle again. Powell has to limp back to the locker room. The rookie can’t catch a break.

— Sharif Phillips-Keaton (@SharifKeaton) December 19, 2025

NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets have been one of the healthier teams in the league this season as they have only had a couple of players out for the majority of the campaign. Guard Cam Thomas and forward Haywood Highsmith have not taken the floor for Brooklyn in quite some time, but it’s possible that the Nets could be without one of their rookies for the near future.

Nets rookie forward Drake Powell sprained his right ankle in the first quarter of Thursday’s 106-95 loss to the Miami Heat after playing just four minutes off the bench and grabbing three rebounds. In what could be a sign of how severe Powell’s injury is, the Nets ruled him out for the rest of the game prior to the end of the first quarter, instead of him taking some time to test that ankle to see if he can go.

“We don’t know, we have to evaluate him right now,” Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez said following Thursday’s loss to Miami, not giving more details on Powell than that the team has to evaluate his injury. Powell, 20, has played in 19 of Brooklyn’s 26 games this season, averaging 6.0 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 48.8% from the field and 37.8% from three-point land.

However, Powell already has a history of ankle sprain this season that have taken him off the floor, albeit for not that much time within the context of the season. Powell played in just two of the Nets’ first eight games of the season as he was dealing with ankle sprains so it is possible that this latest ankle injury could keep him out of the lineup until after Christmas.

Assuming that Powell will be out for the next week or so, the Nets could use that opportunity to call up rookies Ben Saraf and/or Nolan Traore, but that could depend on the playing status of Thomas and Highsmith. Either way, Powell suffered yet another ankle injury in his rookie season that will probably take him off the court so the hope is that he won’t have to miss too much time.