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Nets coach Jordi Fernandez revealed he is considering making changes after his rebuilding team suffered its fifth straight loss on Wednesday night in New Orleans.<\/p>\n
One key change that Fern\u00e0ndez has completed on this week’s trip to Brooklyn, however, is the addition of rookie Drake Powell to the starting lineup in each of the last two games.<\/p>\n
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Powell – the third of the Nets’ franchise-record candidates in 2025 (22nd game overall) – has tallied 26 points in 49 minutes in two starts, including 16 with five rebounds and two 3-pointers in a 116-113 loss to the Pelicans.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\nDrake Powell looks to shoot against Yves Missi in the second half of the Nets’ loss to the Pelicans on Jan. 14, 2026, in New Orleans. AP<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
“We expect a lot from him,” Fern\u00e1ndez said after the game about Powell, whose rights were acquired from the Hawks on draft night. “We see a player who not only improves and plays on both sides, but is good, it’s time to see how he does in that situation.<\/p>\n
“I’m very happy with the way he played. Does that mean he’s going to be here all the time? There’s no guarantee here. If he continues to play hard, we want to see that growth, like everybody else. That goes for rookies, that goes for everybody. Keep working, keep getting better. The opportunity is there, and you have to take it.”<\/p>\n
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Wednesday’s game marks the first time the North Carolina product has started in Brooklyn’s backcourt with No. 8 pick Egor D\u00ebmin, who missed Monday’s loss at Dallas due to injury management.<\/p>\n
The 20-year-old Powell got off to a slow start with an ankle injury on opening night in October, missing the next four games. The 6-foot-5 wing averaged 5.8 points in 17.8 minutes per game over 25 bench appearances as a rookie, and 11.3 points in 25.0 minutes in three games as a starter, including his first NBA start on Jan. 1 against the Rockets.<\/p>\n
\n“I want to stay aggressive on both ends of the floor,” Powell told the YES Network after Monday’s game in Dallas. “That’s what Jordi told me to do before the game, finally I trust myself and I trust my teammates.<\/p>\n
“I think I have a good circle at home that keeps my head on straight, and, like I said, I just trust my teammates, I trust my coaches, and from there, at the end of the day, it’s just basketball.”<\/p>\n\n<\/div>
\nDrake Powell shoots a jumper during the Nets’ road loss to the Pelicans. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Powell is shooting just 31.3 percent from 3-point range, but he believes his defensive game has improved slightly, with only two fouls committed in the past two games.<\/p>\n
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“It’s a lot different in college, you have to show your hands a lot, and that’s something that I’m going to continue to grow in, to be a good linebacker in this league,” Powell said. “With the film I watch and the many games I play, it will grow over time.”<\/p>\n
D\u00ebmin made the most starts among Nets rookies with 27, followed by guard Ben Saraf (26th overall) with five and Powell and forward Danny Wolf (27) with three each.<\/p>\n
French guard Nolan Traore (19) has played 18 games off the bench entering Friday’s game against the Bulls, including five points in 19 minutes in New Orleans.<\/p>\n
Veteran guard Terance Mann stepped into a backup role Wednesday night, and Fern\u00e1ndez indicated that more changes are coming after the Nets (11-27) allowed 33 points in the second half and lost for the eighth time in nine games following a 7-3 stretch in December.<\/p>\n
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“I know our guys care about doing the right thing,” said Fern\u00e0ndez. “The problem is, right now our focus and our goals aren’t there. And that’s something I have to help them better. And there’s different ways you can do it, obviously. So I’m going to try to do my best to get 10 guys in the rotation who care about repetition, who care about football pressure, who care about doing the right things.<\/p>\n
“And if you make mistakes, we can live with them. But the goals and the effort, it’s a priority for us. I trust the team. They always show reactions, and they work. I trust the coaches, they always come back with good answers and energy. And we will do the same here.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nets coach Jordi Fernandez revealed he is considering making changes after his rebuilding team suffered its fifth straight loss on Wednesday night in New Orleans. One key change that Fern\u00e0ndez has completed on this week’s trip to Brooklyn, however, is the addition of rookie Drake Powell to the starting lineup in each of the last …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2265"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2267,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2265\/revisions\/2267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}