UNC Basketball Pro Moves Into First Round of Mock Draft

One-year UNC basketball wing Drake Powell's stock might be on the rise at the perfect time.

UNC basketball forward Drake Powell / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Considering the 7-foot wingspan and 8-foot-7 standing reach to pair with off-the-charts athleticism as a guard/forward hybrid, there's plenty to like about UNC basketball one-and-done Drake Powell when it comes to his potential at the next level.

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Evidently, ESPN is higher on Powell than most other sites, as the 6-foot-5, 200-pound talent checks in at No. 28 overall on the latest mock draft that Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo released earlier this week. Givony and Woo project him to come off the board to the Boston Celtics.

"NBA teams like Powell's feel for the game and long-term upside," Givony noted, "especially his ability to guard everyone from point guards to power forwards while flying around to protect the rim, crash the glass and close out with purpose on the perimeter.

"He plays exceptionally hard, has tremendous mobility covering ground, rotating all over the floor — with the question being whether he's an aggressive enough scorer or accurate enough shooter to hold his own on that end of the floor."

Drake Powell, the only 2024-25 UNC basketball player likely to get selected in next week's NBA Draft, averaged 7.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists across 37 outings as a Tar Heel.

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