Drake Powell

Offense

Drake Powell is a very explosive athlete who thrives when he gets a seam. He can finish with authority off the dribble or on lobs, and he runs hard filling the lane in transition, where he’s a genuine weapon.

Off the ball, he moves well; relocating along the perimeter, cutting to the hoop, and occasionally functioning as the roll man in the pick-and-roll. He wasn’t used in that role often, but the glimpses were intriguing and suggest some untapped potential.

His handles aren’t great, but they are at least functional and I’d consider a step or two above basic. He can execute some effective crossovers, hesitations, and step-backs, but he still tends to play at one speed. Often, his moves don’t advance him much as he’ll perform a crossover without gaining ground, making it easier for defenders to stay in front of him. As a result, unless he can burst past someone, he struggles to create separation.  However, there is at least some nascent skill, wiggle, and upside here to build on. Early on in the NBA, his role to playing time will be more defense, cuts, opportunistic drives, and hitting open shots (hopefully) but he has some upside as a ball handler

Drake’s a solid finisher inside. Powell has a good mix of quick jumping, explosive athleticism, length, decent strength, decent fluidity, and good touch.  He needs some assistance to get inside but when he does he can finish.  However, he does tend to show the ball too early, making it easier for defenders to block him. He also would benefit from earning to use his body better to shield the ball and create more effective angles to score.

His jump shot is a mixed bag. He has a good high release, but the mechanics are inconsistent and he’s streaky. He can go through stretches where he looks like a capable shooter, then follow it with ugly misses, including some air balls. He needs to develop into a more consistent rhythm shooter and at least in the near term shooting off the dribble or movement shooting is not a viable part of his game.

Despite having the physical tools to be a good rebounder, such as length, athleticism, and good hands, Drake doesn’t pursue boards aggressively. On the defensive end, he rarely goes outside his zone. Offensively, despite his activity as a cutter and his athletic tools, he doesn’t consistently crash the offensive glass. This might have been a scheme issue at UNC where Coach Davis wanted him to get back on defense, but it’s still notable.

Drake is a solid passer, though not a high-volume playmaker. His assists were fairly basic, but there were some nice flashes, such moving the ball on the perimeter, hitting a few cutters, throwing entry passes and lobs to big men, making a few kick outs, executing a few live dribble passes, and making some anticipatory passing quickly moving the ball for a better shot. While he’s not a player you’d run the offense through, he’s capable of playing within a team concept and has some upside with his passing as he expands his game.

Powell doesn’t turn the ball over much, but there are two areas to clean up. First, he struggles to identify help defenders and double teams, leading to strips or pokes when he exposes the ball.  Not by his primary defender or sloppy ball handling, so this is more about broader feel. Second, he needs to be more careful throwing the ball where the defender can’t get it. Both avoiding more obvious interceptions, but also on some of his entry passes to big men where he threw to a place the defender could reach from behind and tip the ball that wasn’t where the big mad had the defender sealed off from. Both are more about improving awareness and decision-making than glaring flaws.

Defense

Drake is a bit of an odd player to watch on defense. He often guards top offensive threats and pressures them well beyond the three-point line. He has good lateral speed and change-of-direction ability, but sometimes takes questionable angles or opens up too much when forcing players a certain direction. That leaves him vulnerable to blow-bys. Other times, he mirrors his man beautifully and looks like a future lockdown defender. There’s a lot of upside here, but his footwork and processing still need refinement, somewhat reminiscent of watching Patrick Williams as a freshman (doesn’t mean they turn out the same, but you can see some similarities in their tools and processing on their college tape).

Powell’s is recovery speed is excellent. He also has the athleticism, length, and bounce to contest shots even after he’s been beaten. However, he needs to take better angles at times and not foul shooters as much, but the tools and potential are there and when they work he looks like a lockdown defender, he’s just not consistent yet.

Additionally, Powell can struggle with screen navigation. At times, he doesn’t sense screens coming and gets caught on them. Improving his screen recognition and angles will be important at the next level if he wants to really be a potentially elite defender.

Powell generates a lot of steals using his length, speed, quick hands, and anticipation. He’s particularly adept at deflecting passes and turning defense into quick offense. He might be the best defender in the draft at disrupting inbounds plays, as he seemed to pick off or deflecting 5-6 inbound passes this season..

Drake’s athleticism and length also make him a real shot-blocking threat from the wing position. He can help protect the rim as a weakside defender and block his own man’s shots in isolation. He may not be a primary rim protector, but he adds real value through his secondary rim protection that would be helpful on any team, but could fit really nicely next to a non-shot blocking big like a Jokic, Sabonis, or Sengun who could use some added help from the wings.

Overall, Powell does a pretty decent job rotating and helping.  At times there seemed to be some confusion with teammates about switching versus staying or hedging.  It’s hard to know what the issues was from video but it may indicate a need to communicate more or better.

Powell still needs to add strength, especially to hold his ground against bigger players. But even this season, he showed flashes of being able to switch onto bigs and hold his own. He absorbed contact at the rim from guards, wings, and even some bigs, using his length and frame to wall up effectively. Long-term, he has switchable, multi-level defensive potential.

Overall, the tools are all there.  Powell has the length, strength, lateral mobility, leaping, motor, and instincts. When it all comes together, he looks like a potentially elite wing defender. The consistency just isn’t quite there yet. If he can tighten his footwork and improve his processing, he has the potential be one of the best defenders in his draft class… or not.