​LAS VEGAS — Brooklyn Nets guard Drake Powell is heading into his second NBA season and after an uneven rookie season, he is looking to show how much he has improved since the 2025-26 campaign. Brooklyn has already seen Powell be an impactful defender, but the team is hoping that he can come along as an offensive threat, something that Powell is trying to prove amidst shooting struggles.”I’ve been working a lot with my coaches on my shot. Obviously, they’re not going in right now. I’m gonna continue to put them up and just have full confidence that they’re gonna go in,” Powell said to the media following Monday’s practice in Las Vegas, as posted on X by Erik Slater of ClutchPoints. The Nets play their next game on Tuesday against Darius Acuff Jr. and the Sacramento Kings and Powell is hoping that his shots start falling.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement”Some nights are obviously hard when I’m by myself in a hotel room, but just constant conversations with my circle, just continue to trust them and then my coaches as well,” Powell continued. As of this writing, Powell has played four games between the California Classic and the Las Vegas Summer League and he is averaging just 2.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game while shooting just 1-of-28 from the field (3.6%) and 0-for-14 from behind the three-point line.”Just that we have full confidence in him taking the right shots. I think Drake did take the right shots. He had a great drive, but the ball just didn’t go in,” Nets summer league coach Dutch Gaitley last week when asked about Powell’s shooting struggles. “Defensively, he’s been outstanding. He’s done everything. It’s not easy for a young player to struggle offensively and still give great effort defensively, and he’s done that.”To say that Powell has been tough to watch on the offensive end of the floor during the summer circuit is an understatement, but he seems to be in a good headspace to deal with his current struggles. Gaitley and the rest of the coaching staff continue to have confidence in him bouncing back in that area so the hope is that Powell can have a good shooting game before summer league is over.This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets’ Drake Powell explains mindset amidst summer offensive struggles