![\"Drake](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/looks-shoot-new-orleans-pelicans-118939484.jpg\")
Drake Powell looks to shoot against Yves Missi in the second half of the Nets\u2019 loss to the Pelicans on Jan. 14, 2026, in New Orleans. AP<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have high expectations for him,\u201d Fern\u00e0ndez said after the game about\u00a0Powell, whose rights were obtained from the Hawks on draft night. \u201cWe can see a player that not just can develop and play on both ends of the floor, but can be pretty good, so it\u2019s time to see how he does in that situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very happy with the way he\u2019s played. Does that mean he\u2019s gonna be there the whole time? There\u2019s no guarantees here. If he keeps playing hard, we want to see that growth, same as everybody else. That goes for the rookies, that goes for everybody. Keep working, keep getting better. The opportunity is there, and you gotta take advantage of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wednesday\u2019s game marked the first time the North Carolina product started in the Brooklyn backcourt with No. 8 overall pick Egor D\u00ebmin, who missed Monday\u2019s loss in Dallas due to injury management.<\/p>\n
The 20-year-old Powell got off to a slow start due to an ankle injury suffered on opening night in October, missing the following four games. The 6-foot-5 wing has averaged 5.8 points in 17.8 minutes per game over 25 appearances off the bench as a rookie, and 11.3 points in 25.0 minutes in three games as a starter, also including his first NBA start Jan. 1 against the Rockets.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust want to stay aggressive on both ends of the floor,\u201d Powell told YES Network after Monday\u2019s game in Dallas. \u201cThat\u2019s what Jordi told me to do leading up to the game, and I ultimately trust myself and trust my teammates.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I have a great circle back home that keeps my head on straight, and, like I said, just trust my teammates, trust my coaches, and then just from there, at the end of the day, it\u2019s just basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Drake](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/user-expressly-acknowledges-agrees-downloading-118935304.jpg\")
Drake Powell shoots a jumper during the Nets\u2019 road loss to the Pelicans. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Powell is shooting just 31.3 percent from 3-point range, but he believes his defensive game has steadily improved, with just two personal fouls committed in the past two games.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a lot different from college, you gotta show your hands a lot, and that\u2019s something I\u2019ll continue to grow at, to be a good defender in this league,\u201d Powell said. \u201cWith the more film that I watch and the more games that I play, it\u2019ll just build over time.\u201d<\/p>\n
D\u00ebmin has made the most starts among the Nets\u2019 rookie crop with 27, followed by guard Ben Saraf (26th overall) with five and Powell and forward Danny Wolf (27th) with three apiece.<\/p>\n
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French guard Nolan Traore (19th) has made all of his 18 appearances off the bench entering Friday\u2019s home game against the Bulls, including five points in 19 minutes in New Orleans.<\/p>\n
Veteran guard Terance Mann moved into a reserve role Wednesday night, and Fern\u00e0ndez indicated more\u00a0rotation changes could be coming after the Nets (11-27) allowed 33 second-chance points and lost for the eighth time in nine games following an encouraging 7-3 stretch in December.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know our guys care about doing the right things,\u201d Fern\u00e0ndez said. \u201cThe problem is, right now our focus and our intentions are not there. And that\u2019s something that I\u2019ve got to help them better. And there\u2019s different ways you can do it, obviously. So I\u2019m going to try to do my best to find 10 guys in the rotation that care about rebounding, that care about ball pressure, that care about doing the right things.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then if you make mistakes, we can live with it. But the intentions and the effort, it\u2019s a priority for us. I trust the group. They\u2019ve always shown a reaction, and work. I trust the coaches, they always come back with answers and positive energy. And that\u2019s how we\u2019re gonna do it here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nets coach Jordi Fern\u00e0ndez hinted that he is considering making rotation changes after his rebuilding team suffered its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539727,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3767],"tags":[7,670,247,3803,248,6,671,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-539726","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn-nets","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-brooklyn","10":"tag-brooklyn-nets","11":"tag-brooklynnets","12":"tag-jordi-fernandez","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-nets","15":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115902496868151056","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}